Silent Reverie
by All Around Loon
Summary: One summer changed the way Sirius Black looked at Marlene Mckinnon. A look into how their relationship progressed and how Sirius coped with losing the only girl he ever truly loved. Rating upped due to future adult situations.
1. Prologue

They charged the house before the Mckinnon's could even blink. They were out numbered by two. Marlene recognized four of them; Travers, Lestrange, Avery and Rosier.

"Mark! Take mum upstairs!" Marlene yelled towards her brother. Mark grabbed their mum and pulled her up the stairs, Marlene turned around before she could see Avery follow them. She ran into the living room where Rosier had her brother, Caleb, sprawled on the floor writhing in pain. Marlene turned when she heard the door open, it was pouring outside. Her father was fighting with a burly death eater on the lawn. She stood frozen for a moment, who was she going to help.

"Hello there, pretty." No one, apparently. Marlene turned around to face Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Hello Bellatrix."

"Let's hope you put up a better fight the your brother." Marlene felt a pain in her heart, she had killed Louis. But she hardly had time to dwell, for Bellatrix had charged her full speed, shoving her into the wall.

Marlene rose her wand. "Stupefy!" She screamed, and the spell hit the wall as Bella dodged it. Marlene obviously had to take a different approach. She punched Bella in the face as hard as she could. "Bitch!" She yelled.

Marlene glanced towards the living room, and the color drained from her face as she saw Caleb fall to the floor, dead behind the eyes. Frantic, she looked out the window to see her father lying still in the grass. Avery came running down the stairs, "All clear up there, Madame." He said to Bellatrix.

Marlene charged him, with a yell. Bella grabbed Marlene by her elbows, pulling her back.

"How unfortunate for my cousin. Poor Sirius won't know what to do without you." She cackled, and Marlene cringed.

"Just kill me and get it over wi- PETER!" Marlene screamed as Peter Pettigrew walked through the door. "Peter help me! Go get Sirius! Owl him! What are you doing, don't just stand there!" Bella cackled again, and Marlene stared at him in shock. She began to writhe in Bella's arm, attempting to attack Peter. "You Bastard! How could you, We are your friends! You weak, feeble minded little prat!"

Bella had obviously had enough, she wrapped her hand around Marlene's throat and shoved her against the wall. "Travers, get over here." She yelled.

Travers was thin and lanky, he carried himself with an undeserved sense of accomplishment. He was ruthless, known for getting confessions from people who didn't want to talk. Which is why he had been sent, after all. Marlene was very important, and Voldemort needed to know everything she did. Travers raised his wand to Marlene's throat, and she began to writhe and choke, her eyes never leaving Peter. He was standing in the doorway soaking wet, his eyes downcast.

Travers had been speaking the whole time, but Marlene wasn't paying attention. She would die and Sirius would never know about Peter, Who else would he sell out? After all, it had to have been him. No one knew where the Mckinnon's country house was But Sirius, James and Peter. Remus had never been taken to her house, and Alice would never. Fabian was dead... It had to have been Peter. Sirius and James would never!

Something Travers said brought her out of her trance and back to reality. "... Now we might let you live if you tell us where The Potters are hiding? Or maybe one Sirius Bl-"

"I will die before I betray my friends!"

It was Peter who spoke. "Come on, Marlene. Just tell them, save yourself. Siri-"

"Don't you dare say his name, fucking scum! Your scum! Your selling your friends out to an ego maniac! This is not a gam-"

"Enough!" Bellatrix yelled. "Move over Travers, I'll handle this one. Take Pettigrew and report back to the dark lord. Tell him she would not talk, but the Mckinnon's are dead just as he asked."

"But Bel-"

"I said go!" She said, sneering at him like an angry cat, Marlene thought she might actually hiss. "Now you..." She all but purred. "It's a shame, your a talented witch. You could have been great, but you are far to loyal to my disgrace of a cousin and the rest of the blood traitors." Marlene was still writhing in Bella's grasp, but Bella hardly noticed. "The dark lord will be very angry you wouldn't speak up, he was so hoping you would have very valuable information. But, hey... can't always get what we want, right?"

"Just kill me and be done with it."

Bella nodded. "Yes, I'll get to that in a minute. But don't fret, Marlene, your beloved Sirius will be joining you soon... Galavanting around great Britain on a flying motorcycle, I mean really. All we really have to do is shoot him out of the sky, he has made it increasingly easy for us."

"You disgust me."

"Oh please, can't you people ever be a little more creative?" And with that, Bellatrix raised her wand at Marlene's chest. "Avada Kedavra!" She screamed, and a jet of green light shot into Marlene's chest. A thousand memories flashed before Marlene's eyes, and she opened her mouth to say something, but fell to the floor.

For the second time that night, the color drained from her face. But this time it would not return.

Her eyes were lifeless when he found her, her blonde hair matted to her forehead. _"She never gave in. That's my girl.' _He thought, wiping the hair from her face. He knew she wouldn't, they both lived by the same code. She would die before she ever betrayed any of her friends. He had been flying in when he saw the burst of green light come from the windows, his heart had still not come back from where it had fell. He imagined it sitting somewhere deep in his stomach, still beating, but just barely. He had watched as Bellatrix walked from the house, and apparated.

Still he knew she wouldn't have wanted to go any other way. Marlene was not one to go quietly into the night. She was supposed to go down a hero, it was in her nature. He brushed his hand along her cheek, she was cold. She wasn't supposed to be cold, she was supposed to blush the way she always did when he touched her face. "My Marlene.." He whispered. He stood up to survey the area, her house was in complete disarray, chairs were flung aside, there were holes in the walls. Caleb was lying dead in the living room and Mr. Mckinnon was on the lawn. Sirius imagined he would find the rest of her family upstairs.

But he wasn't interested in them quite yet. The others would arrive soon, he had sent an owl for them as soon as he had seen the jet of green light. He shut the front door, Marlene's hair was soaking wet now, and Sirius was getting quite cold. He stared down at Marlene, his face was gaunt almost vampiric, the way it always got when he was angry and upset. She was gone. Marlene was gone. He closed his eyes, he had to tell her. Even though she wouldn't hear, he had to say all the things he couldn't when she was alive.

"Marlene, Who do you think you are leaving me all alone like this." He said, the tears stinging his eyes. "I don't know what I'm going to do without you. You were my light, my ground, my world... and now your gone. I loved you. And I'm sorry I didn't say it more often, I should have told you every day. And I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry I let this happen to you." He was crying now, the tears falling freely down his face. "I will fid whoever did this to you. And they will pay, I promise. Oh god..." He choked out that last bit, just as James and Remus came barreling through the door.

"Oh Sirius...' Remus said, hugging him. He gripped his friend tightly, sobbing into his shoulder. James glanced at his friend, than down at Marlene.

"Oh, Pads, I'm so sorry."


	2. Marlene

_"Summer romances begin for all kinds of reasons, but when all is said and done, they have one thing in common. They're shooting stars, a spectacular moment of light in the heavens, fleeting glimpse of eternity, and in a flash they're gone."_

_XX00XX_

Sirius Black looked lazily over the grounds of the Potter estate. He loved this place, it was his safe haven. His home away from... well, his home. Truth be told, Sirius didn't have another home to be away from. His parents had shunned him the moment he had bee sorted into Slytherin, but Sirius hardly cared. He had always known in some way he was destined to be the outcast, the uh, _Black sheep_ if you will. Still staring out at the grounds, he saw something out the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he realized it was a girl... a pretty girl. Sirius watched her for a moment, she was sitting under a large oak tree and he could see that she had a quill in her hand. She was writing furiously.

A door opened behind Sirius, and he turned to see James exit the house. James tossed a sandwich at Sirius (Which he barely caught), and took a large bite out of his own.

"Who's that girl?" Sirius asked James, motioning to the girl sitting under the tree

James squinted, peering past Sirius to the large oak. "Oh. Thats Marlene Mckinnon. Her parent's have a country house nearby, she goes to Hogwarts. I think she's in our-"

"Transfiguration class." Sirius finished, staring towards her. James raised his eyebrows, looking at his friend with a knowing glance.

"I know that tone." He said, shaking his head and standing up. He clapped his friend on the shoulder, "And don't bother mate, she doesn't date. A kitten with a whip, if you will. A fiery tongue, that one has... Like Lily, just not as," He paused, searching for the right word. "Perfect."

Sirius just scoffed. "Prongs buddy old pal, Im Sirius Black. No one is immune to my charm, one flip of the hair and she'll be blushing." James just shrugged, and turned to lounge on one of the chairs.

"Give it your best go." He said, raising his eyebrow with a bemused smirk, motioning his hand toward Marlene.

Before James could say another word, Sirius had hopped over the wall and was proceeding to jog towards the tree.

Marlene Mckinnon was smart. That was the word most people would use to describe her. Smart. In every sense of the word. Book smart, street smart, Smart-ass... She had never been like the other girls at school. They were more interested in catching a boys attention. Marlene liked to describe them as cows on display, wandering around the halls their hair done, face caked with make-up. Marlene found it repulsive, Men were dogs. She had three brothers... of anyone knew, it was Marlene. So when she looked up and saw none other than the ultimate Womanizer, Sirius Black, making his way towards her. She sighed in annoyance, and set her book aside.

Sirius stopped about a foot away from where she was sitting. Flipping his hair out of his eyes, he grinned mischievously. "Marlene Mckinnon?"

She smirked slightly, she would entertain his attempt for a while. "Sirius Black?"

He nodded, that stupid grin still plastered to his face. "I've seen you around."

"I would hope so, I've sat behind you in Transfiguration for 6 years. Hopefully you have noticed my existence somewhat." She smiled brightly, standing and wiping off her jeans. "Vacationing with the Potters?" She said, knowing the answer. It was common knowledge the two were inseparable. Everything about them was common knowledge. They were like celebrities, it was rather sickening.

"Yes. And I just noticed you sitting over here all by your lonesome. Would you like to join James and I, were going fishing." She narrowed her eyes. Was she actually considering this? Yes. But for entertainment purposes only, just so she could have something to tell Gideon and Alice about later.

"Sure. When?" She said, biting her lip and glancing down at her book, she would have to finish that Potions essay later.

Sirius smiled like Christmas had come early. "Two o'clock. We'll meet here, than?"

"Yeah..." She said slowly. "See you then." And she turned on her heel and walked away. Sirius did the same, though he did it with an undeserved sense of accomplishment.


	3. Brothers

_"Some brothers are overprotective, and others just have nothing better to do."_

_XX00XX_

Marlene walked down the road back to her house, barefoot and sweating. It was early in the summer, and yet unnaturally hot. Pulling her hair back she ran the steps up to her house, and was comforted by the cool breeze as she pushed the door open. Home sweet home. Louis and Mark were sitting in the living room, facing each other, not blinking or speaking. Marlene walked into the room and looked between them.

"What on earth are you doing?"

"Shh, Marlene. Were having a staring contest." Louis said, not moving.

Rolling her eyes slightly, she plopped onto the couch across from them and watched. Boys were so stupid. And despite all her brothers being of age... they were boys. Caleb and Louis had just finished their last year at Hogwarts, and Mark was 2 years out of school and 'freelance'. Marlene had soon come to realize that 'freelance' was just another word for 'unemployed'. After fifteen minutes of staring at one another, Louis finally won and handed Mark a gold galleon.

"Spend it wisely. Since you don't have a job, that might buy your food for the month." Louis said, sitting on the opposite end of the couch.

"See, that's bad advice. Who says I'm leaving anytime soon?" He stayed where he was on the plush chair, shoving the Galleon into his pocket.

They sat in silence for a moment, than Louis looked over at Marlene. "You look glum, what's the matter?"

She looked over at him, taken aback. Did she really look 'glum'? "Nothing. What time is it?"

"Two thirty." Louis answered, still staring over at his little sister. "Why?"

"I'm leaving at two, meeting someone down by the lake."

"Who?" Mark asked. "A boy?"

"Yes in fact," She said with a smirk. "Sirius Black. He's staying with James Potter. He lives down the road."

All was silent for a moment. Mark's mouth was agape, and Louis was staring at his little sister in a state of disbelief. After all, both brothers had gone to Hogwarts for the past seven years, they knew who Sirius Black was. And they knew his reputation.

"You can't go out with him!" Louis said, his voice cracking slightly.

"I'm not going out with him! I'm _meeting_ him down by the lake!"

"Do you know what he does to girls _down by the lake_!" Mark said slowly.

Marlene grunted in aggravation. "You know what you two, butt out! I'm meeting him down by the lake, and there is nothing either of you can do about it. I'm a big girl, I'm not gonna get taken advantage of! Especially not by the likes of Sirius black."

"What about Sirius black?"

Marlene turned to see Caleb leaning into the room. "Oh for christ sake. Nothing, nothing about him... I'm going upstairs."

She turned and nearly ran out of the room and upstairs. Once inside her bedroom Marlene glanced at the clock. Shit. She had fifteen minutes, writing to Alice would have to wait. Grabbing a pair of old, ragged sneakers she shoved them onto her feet and and ran down the stairs. "I'll be back later!" She yelled to her Father, and left the house.

Marlene couldn't help but smile as she ran down the road toward the Potter residence. So many girls would kill to be in this position... hah, stupid cows.

She turned around the hedge and saw James and Sirius sitting under the oak. Lord, what were her brothers going to say when she got home.

_XX00XX_

A/N: Okay, not so much longer than the last chapter. This one was mostly in Marlene's POV because I wanted to do the whole 'overprotective' brother thing. There will be more Sirius in the next chapter, Promise!


	4. Fishing

_"Only fools rush in."_

_XX00XX_

James and Sirius had been sitting under the oak tree for nearly fifteen minutes. James stood and stretched, yawning. The heat was definitely tiring him out. "I think she stood you up, Mate. I told you she was a pistol, there is no use. She doesn't-"

"What exactly don't I do, Potter?"

Sirius turned abruptly. He knew she would come, they always came... how could he have ever doubted his uncanny ability to draw women in. James smirked, leaning against the tree and folding his arms. "I was just telling dear Padfoot hear that you don't date."

Marlene's cheeks immediately became tinged with pink. Sure, it was the truth... she didn't. But who in the hell was he to judge that? "And your one to talk, Potter. When was the last time you had a girlfriend? You have been chasing around Lily Evans since we were eleven." Her tone was rather spiteful, and she narrowed her eyes.

Sirius, sensing something horrible was about to happen, stood between the two. "Now that _that_ is out of the way. Can we please go down to the lake? I wanna catch some fish before it gets too late."

Marlene nodded, as did James and the three of them walked in silence towards the waters edge.

"So, Marlene... how was your school year?"

"Buckets of fun. And yours?" Her tone reeked with sarcasm. Why had she ever agreed to this? What on earth had made her think that she would ever be able to tolerate Sirius for long amounts of time?

James chuckled, but covered it up with a cough. Sirius elbowed him in the ribs.

"Since when do Wizards go fishing?" Marlene asked ten minutes later, holding a stick attached to a piece of string. "Especially wizards who have more money than Merlin. Tell me, James, is it true you have a separate house elf for everyone one in your family? And that your related to the Minister? AND that underneath that t-shirt your abs are rock-"

"Please god stop, I don't think I can take one more second." Sirius said, silencing Marlene. James, however, looked amused.

"Do you believe everything you hear?"

"It's all rubbish."

"Smart girl."

They sat in silence for almost a half a hour, just watching the water move. Once, Sirius thought had had a bite, but it turned out to just be a old boot. Within the hour the three of them had given up on fishing and were lounging lazily on James's porch. Marlene was laid out on an oversized lawn chair, her eyes closed.

"It's so bloody hot."

"Oh, it sure is." Sirius uttered under his breath so only James could hear. He was watching Marlene like a hawk, and James was watching Sirius with a amused expression.

"Okay, I'm done. I'm going to go inside and write to Lily. It was nice seeing you Marlene, and I'm sure this is not the last time you will be laying on my porch. Good day."

Marlene raised her hand up lazily, blocking the sun and opening one eye. "So... what do you wanna do?"

Sirius just stared at her, taking in her appearance. Her shorts were just that, short. The tank top barely covered her torso, and Sirius couldn't help but let his eyes linger on the skin that was visible just below her neck. Marlene watched him take her in. She rolled her eyes and sat up. Sirius just stared at her, and she noticed that he had a little twinkle in the back of his eye. Marlene glanced from side to side awkwardly.

"I don't know, Marlene." He said. "What do you think?"

Marlene rolled her eyes again. "Sirius, Listen... I don't why you invited me here, but I think it might have something to do with-"

"I like you."

"You can't like me! You don't know me!"

"I could get to know you."

"Sirius, hang up the chick habit."

"What?"

"You know what I mean! You can't just meet a girl for a day, and just decide to like her. That's not how it works. So I'm saying, Hang up the chick habit. Your famous for rushing in, and then running away." Sirius looked taken aback. No girl had ever said anything like that to him, and he had the vague sensation if Moony were present he would say something along the lines of, 'It's about time.'

"So?" He said.

"So, I'm going home now." She said, standing up.

"Do you want to come over tomorrow?" He said, and Marlene couldn't ignore the hint of desperation in his voice.

Marlene put her hand on her hip and stared down at him is disbelief. "Okay. What time?"

"About ten, James and I were thinking of walking to the village."

"Okay alright.. I'll go. Ten, you said? I'll be there. See you tomorrow, Sirius."

The entire way home, Marlene cursed her better judgement. Yet, something inside of her said this was the right thing, that she was supposed to be doing this. All speculation, however, was lost as she entered her house and was bombarded by her brothers. She refused to tell them about what she would be doing tomorrow, thinking it would be best if they didn't know. She didn't want them thinking she fancied Sirius Black.

_XX00XX_

A/N: So, No reviews. Oh well... but if you read please leave a review! It's kind of hard to get motivated with no audience. This chapter was a little longer than the others, and the next one will probably be even longer. Please Review!

Pix.


	5. Alone

_"__The summer night is like a perfection of thought__."_

_XX00XX_

The next morning, James watched Sirius with a confused expression as he rushed through breakfast. Sirius never rushed anything that involved food. Never.

"What's wrong with you?" James asked.

Sirius managed to speak between chomps of bacon, and toast. "We have to meet Marlene by ten. Were going into town."

"I can't go, I have to go with my mum to see my grandmother as St. Mungos."

Sirius choked on his toast slightly. For some reason he was nervous about being alone with Marlene all day. "So I will have to be alone with her all day?"

"What? You think she might hurt you? Hey, I don't blame you. She is kind of scary. But if all else fails, just turn into a dog and run away."

"Great advice, Mate." Sirius said, glumly.

At ten o'clock Marlene met Sirius at the oak for the second time in two days.

"Where is James?" She said.

"Oh, he had to go visit his grandmother. She's very sick." Sirius had the sudden feeling that when Marlene heard she would be alone with Sirius all day, she might actually run away.

Marlene was thinking something along the same lines, but decided it would be best to go. Caleb's latest girlfriend was over for lunch, and sadly, Sirius was the better option of the two. "Oh..."

Sirius shoved his hand in his pockets, looking at her sideways. "So, do you wanna, uh... walk?"

"Oh! Oh yeah, right. Let's go."

Marlene brushed past him, and Sirius was rooted to the spot for a moment. He had the strangest feeling that this day was going to be very, very interesting. He had to run to catch up with her.

"What kind of music do you listen too?" She asked.

"Well, lot's of stuff... uh, I like some muggle music."

"Like?"

"Well, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles. Why?"

"Just wondering. It just occurred to me, I know nothing about you. Besides that your the most popular boy at Hogwarts." He grinned playfully, and gave a laugh that sounded strangely like a bark.

"Well, uh... I like sunsets, and long walks on the beach, and blondes and..." She held her hand up to stop him.

"I'm serious! If were going to attempt a friendship, which is what I hope your aiming for, I want to at least attempt to get to know you." She said in a rather matter of fact tone.

"Well what about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know anything about you either! All I know is that you don't date, you communicate best through sarcasm, and your in Ravenclaw."

"I do date. I just haven't met anyone I've liked enough to try it with."

Sirius was quiet. He had obviously touched a nerve. When he did speak, it with as much finesse as he could muster, he was going to handle this subject like he was dealing with an angry giant. "Why not?"

"I have three brothers, Sirius. I know what men are like. You think I haven't seen what happens to girls who 'fall in love'?"

Sirius couldn't help but agree, he had never really believed in love either. "I know what you mean, Love is bullshit." Marlene laughed, and Sirius looked at her with a wide grin. "That's the first time I have ever heard you laugh."

"You say that as if you have known me for more than two days."

The two walked in silence until they reached the edges of the small village. Sirius could see that a small farmers market had sprung up in the center of town. He led Marlene towards the many booths, and they both looked around. Piles of Vegetables and fruits were under almost every small tent, there were tents with pies, and breads, and one with honey. They passed a rather odd booth that smelled of rancid meat, and Marlene had to pull Sirius away from a peculiar tent where they were roasting something that looked like Pigs feet.

"That's disgusting." She said, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards a large pile of fresh fruit.

An hour later, Sirius and Marlene were sprawled out on a blanket in the small park that sat between the church and the edge of the lake. Fruit and candies littered the area around them. Sirius and Marlene were both laughing hysterically as Marlene strangled out a story about the first time her grandmother encountered a Muggle blender.

"She.. she just kept pressing the button. And when m-my brother plugged it in.. she screamed and hit it with her purse." They exploded with laughter. Once Sirius had calmed down, he propped himself up on his elbow and grabbed an apple.

"Tell me about your family." he said, taking a large bite out of the apple.

Marlene was laying flat on her back, and turned to face Sirius. "Well, my mother is very strict. She doesn't really pay attention to me, but I can't blame her. She has four children, one of which is a bit of a slacker. My father favors me, but only out of guilt. He never wanted me, I was the mistake. I know it sounds harsh, but its the truth." She paused to shove a grape in her mouth, chewed and then went on. "My brother Mark can't find a job, so he still lives with my parents. And my other brothers Mark and Caleb, you probably know them, just graduated."

"What do you mean your father never wanted you?"

Marlene chuckled slightly. "He never wanted a girl. What about your family?"

"Ah, there a bunch of slimy gits on the wrong side of the war."

"Don't hold back, let it all out." She paused, biting her lip. "What do you mean 'on the wrong side'?"

"Well, you know... I'm a Black. My family is all about Pureblood's gaining power. It's sickening, which is why I am here with Prongs, and why I have stayed with him every summer since the first year."

"Wow... and I though I had it bad." Marlene said with a strangled laugh.

The stayed like that most of the day, sprawled out on the blanket discussing everything from their favorite teachers to their own views on what they both knew would turn into a war. When twilight came, they packed up their small little camp and walked home slowly. By the time they were walking across James' lawn, the stars were out.

Marlene sighed heavily. "I am not ready to go home."

"So don't." Sirius said, spreading the blanket out. He sat down, running his fingers through his hair. Looking up at her, he winked and patted the spot next to him. She laughed beside herself and plopped down next to him.

"I had fun today, surprisingly."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, your different than I expected. I must say I rather expected you to be a little more daft and idiotic than you are. You're actually... nice."

"Oh, well thanks." He said sarcastically.

"No! I didn't mean it like that..."

"Are you trying to say I might actually wiggle my way into your heart after all."

She squinted her eyes, wrinkling her nose and holding up her fingers to indicate a little bit. "Maybe a little bit."

"Just a little bit?"

"Only a little. Because otherwise... my brothers might kill you."

_XX00XX_

A/N: Longest Chap yet! Woo Hoo! So I guess this might be their unofficial first date, hah. And Just to clear things up, this is the summer before their last year at school. I don't know if I mentioned that or not, oh well.

Pix.


	6. Motorcycles

_"__Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window__."_

_XX00XX_

After that day at the village, Marlene and Sirius had become something closely resembling friends. Marlene would never admit it, but Sirius was growing on her. She had even come to appreciate James and his crude jokes, and stupid nicknames. Though the taunting from her brothers was becoming nearly unbearable. One day in early July, Sirius, James and Marlene had run into Caleb in the village, and Marlene nearly died of embarrassment when he called Sirius her 'boy toy', and had to smack Sirius when he said didn't disagree.

July eighteenth, the day before Marlene's birthday, Sirius had been all but jumping out of his skin with excitement to show her something.

"It's nearly done!" He said, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards James's carriage house.

"What is nearly done?" She said, letting him drag her along. They had been hanging out every day for almost a month and she had never seen him this excited. He ignored her question, and just talked on.

"I haven't even told James about it, your the first to see it. All that's left is to work out the fuel levels for long rides."

"What is _it_?" She asked as he pulled her into the Carriage house. There was something covered with a large tarp, and Sirius ran over to it.

"It's not completely finished, so don't be too judging." Marlene put her hand on her hip and raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"Well... show me than."

He grinned widely, and pulled the tarp off. There stood before her, a perfectly normal muggle motorcycle.

"Sirius, I hate to break it too you, but every delivery boy in the village has one of those."

"Yeah, I know. But do their motorcycle's do _this_?" He said, flipping a switch next to the ignition. Immediately the motorcycle sprang to life, and began to hover almost three feet in the air. Marlene's eyes nearly bulged out of her skull, her hand dropped to her side.

"Merlin's pants!" She whispered. "Ho-how did you do that without breaking the, you know, no spells outside school rule."

"I turned seventeen in June." She made a small noise which resembled an 'oh' and moved closer to the motorcycle.

"So... you have created a flying motorbike?"

He nodded excitedly. "And I want you to christen it with me. It's never been ridden on the road, much less... in the sky."

She stared at the bike nervously, then looked towards Sirius biting her lip.

"What?" He said.

"You want me to, er, ride it?"

"Yes! but with me, you'll be safe. I promise. What? Are you scared?"

She scoffed as if it were the most ridiculous thing in the world. "No, I just... How do I know your any good at Charms? The thing could fall out of the sky the minute we get on it."

"Yeah. But thats a chance I'm willing to take."

"Your not really doing a very good job at easing my worries." She said, rolling her eyes.

Sirius sighed. "I was really hoping it wouldn't come to this." He dropped to his knees, and took her hand. "Marlene, please, please ride my flying motorcycle." He stared up at her with pleading eyes. She yanked her hand away.

"Oh for christ sake, get up off your knees! I'll ride the bloody motorcycle." She stared up at the motorcycle with weary eyes, than back at Sirius. "You promise we won't fall to our deaths?"

"I swear on James's broomstick."

"Alright than, let's get this over with." He grinned. Marlene laughed slightly, he looked like a kid in a candy store.

He flipped the switch, and the motorcycle came back to the ground. He hopped on, and Marlene couldn't help but notice how good he looked on it. It just... suited him.

"Well, come on than. Hop on." She hesitated, but walked forward anyway. Straddling the motorcycle, she wrapped her arms around his waist. He smiled.

"Shutup." She said under her breathe.

He laughed, and turned the key, firing up the motorcycle. Revving the engine, he sped out of the carriage house and towards the lake.

"Ready?!" He yelled over the motorcycle.

"No!" She screamed back. He laughed again, and pressed the button and suddenly they were flying. Sirius gave a whoop of excitement, and Marlene buried her face in his shoulder. He laughed again.

"Whats wrong?" He asked. She took a deep breathe, and and brought her mouth next to his ear.

"I don't like flying!" She said, and felt him shudder slightly. "Whats wrong?" She asked him, into his ear.

He didn't know what to say. 'Your too close to me, you make me nervous'? No. He couldn't. "Nothing, Just excited."

She buried her head in his shoulder once again as he dipped towards the lake. She felt as if she was going to vomit.

After twenty minutes of flying over the lake, Sirius landed. Marlene jumped off as soon as they stopped, and fell onto her back into the grass. Sirius fell down next to her, laughing.

"That was amazing!" he exclaimed, she chuckled nervously.

"Obviously we have different measures of excitement. That was one of the most dangerous, reckless, stupid things I have ever done. But I guess thats what happens when you start hanging with a marauder."

Sirius propped up on his elbow and hovered over her. "Kiss me, Marlene."

She laughed, rolling her eyes. "Oh, don't start that again. I'm not going to kiss you."

"Oh come on! We just flew over a lake, we could have died... that doesn't make you the last bit, well, you know."

"We can't all be aroused by danger, Sirius."

He leaned over her, and pressed her lips to his. She didn't move. When he lifted himself back up, he was grinning wider than she had ever seen him grin. "You didn't stop me!"

"Well, that was the second dangerous, reckless, stupid thing i've done today. I'm on a roll."

Sirius laid back. Marlene glanced over at him. "And don't get any stupid ideas just because I didn't stop you doesn't mean this wasn't a one time thing. Were friends, Sirius." He ignored her statement, and hovered over her once again, grinning. He looked as if he might actually kiss her again.

"Padfoot!" James yelled from the house. Sirius sighed, but jumped up and ran towards the porch leaving Marlene alone. James and he conversed for a moment, Sirius nodded, and ran back to Marlene. He held a hand out to help her up which she didn't take, but stood up anyway.

"Moony's here. Would you like to come in the house? I think were gonna eat lunch. I probably owe you some lunch after all these dangerous, reckless things i've made you do."

"I agree." She said, and they made their way towards the house together.

_XX00XX_

A/N: Not as long as the last chapter, but still, long enough. The next chapter should be up fairly soon.

Pix.


	7. Intimate

_"__A friend can tell you things you don't want to tell yourself.__."_

_XX00XX_

Remus Lupin was someone Marlene was rather familiar with. He had dated Dorcas Meadows for a brief period, and she just happened to be one of Marlene's good friends. She had nothing but good things to say about him, but they were both a little confused as to why they broke up. After all, he had never really given her a clear explanation.

"Hello Remus." She said, holding out her hand. He took it with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Hello Marlene! How has your summer been?"

She chuckled slightly, typical Remus, always over polite. "Good so far, other than the fact that Sirius almost killed me with his flying motorbike."

Remus looked up, the same excited expression Sirius had worn when dragging her towards the carriage house. "You finally got it working than!?" He said, and Sirius and him delved into a conversation concerning machines, and terms Marlene didn't understand.

So she wandered off toward the bedrooms. It's not like she was looking for Sirius' bedroom, she just sort of... happened upon it. It was big. Bigger than her bedroom as least, there was a large full size bed off to the right side. The bed spread was a deep scarlet, the pillows gold. Muggle motorcycle posters were taped to the wall haphazardly, But something more interesting had caught Marlene's eye. Picture frames littered the top of his dresser.

They were primarily pictures of Sirius and three people; James, Peter and Remus. But there were a scattered few with Lily and Dorcas. One with Fabian ad Gideon (Which made her laugh, Fabian happened to be one of her very best friends, and he had hoisted Sirius onto his shoulders and was now doing a little jig.) One picture interested her more than the others, though. It was Sirius, looking stoic, almost... vampiric, his cheekbones strangely more defined and there was not even a hint of the grin he always wore. And he was standing with someone Marlene had only seen during school, Regulus Black.

"Well, that was easy. I didn't even have to trick you into following me to my room. James and I had worked out an elaborate plan concerning a hinkypunk and a gerbil."

She ignored his remark, and turned to face him, picture frame in hand. "Is Regulus Black your brother?"

"Yes." He answered, but his voice had suddenly become weary. "That picture was taken by my mother last time I went home..."

His face suddenly changed from weary, to extremely serious with a hint of sadness. Marlene was overcome with the urge to give him a hug. He looked like a lost puppy who been kicked to the ground, it was terrible. "I thought you hated your family..."

"I do."

"Than why would you have a picture of you and your brother in a picture frame?"

"Because -I... well..." He didn't have an answer. But looked up, his eye fierce with what looked like either sadness or anger, Marlene couldn't tell. "Why do you care anyway?"

"Because I care about you. I have told you on many occasions I understand nothing about you. I'm just trying to figure things out, and these feelings towards your family are obviously far more complicated than you let on."

"So! It's not like that's going to change anything. None of them are just going to switch sides, and accept me. That will never happen."

"So that's what this is about? You hate them because they never accepted you? Becau-"

"Shutup, Marlene. You know nothing about this!" He yelled in her direction, and she quieted. For the first time, she was truly scared of him. Something rose in his eyes she had ever seen before and he suddenly gaunt, and hurt, and angry, and lost. He looked up at her, and his expression changed again, it softened. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean too..."

"It's okay." She whispered. "Are you... okay?"

He sighed heavily, and moved to sit on the bed. He lowered his head in his hands, and was silent. Marlene looked towards the door awkwardly, no one was coming to comfort him. It would have to be her. She walked towards the bed slowly and sat next to him, setting a hand on his back she had no idea what to say, what to do. Sirius had an idea, though, because he pulled Marlene into a hug. Her eyes bulged and she patted his back.

He was pretty sure this was the closest they had ever been, she smelled so good. Earthy; like dirt and lavender, he ran his hand up her back until his hand was at the nape of her neck. He wondered why she wasn't fighting him, but decided to just go with it. Marlene however, _was_ fighting... with herself.

_'You can't let him do this! No no no! He's Sirius Black, wizard playboy extraordinaire! Nothing will come of this, your his friend! Oh wow... that does feel nice. His hands are so sof- NO! Stop, oh please... stop.'_ Marlene bit her lip as he moved to kiss her neck, he got two kisses in, her eyes fluttered, and she pulled out of his embrace and ran out of the room.

She had to get some air, Sirius Black and his soft hands were clouding her judgment.

Sirius sat there in utter... well, he didn't exactly know what he was feeling. He was breathing heavily, and his entire body was tingling, okay, so he knew _that_ feeling, but emotionally he was unsure. His thoughts were interrupted however when he heard someone enter the room.

Remus.

"Marlene just ran outside, I think James may have followed her to find out what was wrong. What exactly happened?"

Sirius bit his lip, turning to face his friend. "I'm not actually sure. We were fighting, and than hugging and than... something else. Moony, that girl drives me crazy. I never know what's going on with her, she's up, she's down!" He paused, ready to go on, but Remus cut in.

"Padfoot, I do believe you may be falling in love with her."

"Th-thats impossible. I don't believe in love."

"Just because you don't believe in it, doesn't mean it can't happen."

"She just makes me nervous. She's the only girl I have ever been careful around, I don't want to mess things up with her."

"Well tell her that!"

"I can't. She doesn't like me like I like her... she's made that clear."

Remus didn't know what to say to that. Sirius wasn't used to rejection, and Remus couldn't help but feel that half of his infatuation with her was because he couldn't have her.

Marlene was walking heatedly towards the oak when someone grabbed her arm, she half expected to turn around and see Sirius, but it was James.

"What are you doing here?" She said, her voice filled with anger and confusion.

"I don't know, I saw you run from my house as if a thestral was chasing you. What happened?"

"Nothing happened. Go back inside."

James was quiet for a moment, something had happened, he knew it. But the look Marlene was giving him said 'drop it, or else.'

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow?"

She ignored his statment. "Tell Sirius if he wants to, uh... talk he can drop by my house. My brothers will be out. Goodbye."

And she turned on her heel and left James standing there confused. He could not understand the dynamics of Marlene and Padfoot's relationship, and he didn't think he ever would. But, then again, neither of them really understood his love for Lily... so he guessed they were even.

When James finally sauntered back into his living room, Sirius and Remus were sitting in silence. James took a seat next to Remus and looked between the both of them.

"Marlene said if you needed to talk to her, to go by her house. Her brothers will be gone. What the hell happened with you two?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Sirius said, obviously sulking.

"Come on, Mate! You have never had a problem telling us about your escapades with Mary, or that saucy little hufflepuff."

"Well this is different."

"Oh yeah? How?"

"Because... I just, nothing really happened. We just... hugged."

Remus and James both stared at Sirius in silence for a moment, than burst out laughing.

"You got that heated from a hug!" Remus choked out.

"No!" Sirius said, his cheeks turning an uncharacteristic shade of deep red.

James was still chuckling slightly. "I thought you had a little bit more control. No wonder Marlene won't be your girlfriend... how is she supposed to kiss you if she thinks you might pop one off during a hug!"

"Shutup!" Sirius said, his voice pleading. He couldn't take much more of this, He wasn't Peter! He wasn't supposed to be hung up on some girl! He was Sirius Black, Master of the dating universe. He could have any girl he wanted.

But he didn't want any girl. He wanted Marlene Mckinnon.

Shit.

_XX00XX_

A/N: Hah! The first really intimate moment between Marlene and Sirius. I GOT A REVIEW! Finally. Thanks caraez!

Pix.


	8. Birthday

_Dear Alice, _

_I'm sorry I haven't written you in so long! I have been rather busy. Doing what, you ask? Believe it or not, I have actually been galavanting around the country with Sirius Black. I know what you're thinking and it's not like that! Well... maybe a little bit. I think he likes me, though I don't know why. He could have any girl he wanted, and yet here he is chasing me. I thought maybe he would give up after the first week, but it's been a month! I'm starting to worry it's not just a phase. Well, anyway... How is your summer going? How is Frank? Have you spoken with Fabian? I've missed you! Maybe you could come and visit before summer vacation ends! Hope to hear from you soon._

_Love always!_

_Marlene_

She attached the letter to her owl, Wendelin. "Take this to Alice, she's only one village over, don't give me that look." She gave Wendy a treat and the bird flew out the window. Marlene had only just woken up, and was relieved to find the house empty when she walked down the stairs. She inhaled a quick breakfast and threw on a pair of shorts when Alice's reply dropped onto her dresser. Marlene pulled it open, and could tell she had replied hastily, her usual neat script was all over the place.

_Do you like him?_

_Alice._

Marlene bit her lip, ad grabbed a piece of parchment.

_No._

She wrote, and attached the parchment to Wendy's leg. The owl hooted with annoyance and flew out of the window. Marlene was pulling a bright yellow peasant shirt on when a loud crack was heard.

"You're lying!" Alice said with a wicked smile.

"What are you doing here?" Marlene said, pulling her hair back with a tie. "And No, I'm not... I don't like him."

"Of course you do! If you didn't like him, you wouldn't have sent me post at nine o'clock in the morning!" She paused, staring at her friend with a look of sheer amusement. "I have to say, I'm surprised. I thought you fancied Fabian."

"I did. Just not anymore."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really.

"Why?"

"Go home, Alice!"

Alice laughed, and ran forward to hug her best friend, and throw a small package on the bed. "Fine! But I'll be back later, my mother is going out so I will have some time. Write me if you need anything. Happy Birthday!" And with another loud crack, she was gone.

Marlene fell back onto her bed. What was she going to do? She couldn't like Sirius. She couldn't. It was wrong, they were wrong. Sirius is not who she was supposed to end up with! But Marlene couldn't discount the fact that as soon as her and Sirius had become close, she had forgotten about Fabian. Marlene had to admit that a crush on Sirius would go much farther than a crush on Fabian. Fabian was her best friend, more like a big brother than anything. At least that's how he viewed things, Marlene, however, have been severely crushing on him all of her sixth year. It was only when he started dating Dorcas Meadowes did she really force herself to forget about him in that sense.

And now, the thought of liking Fabian made her sick. She couldn't go through that heartbreak again, he had pushed her crush on him aside for too long, lost his chance even.

She was awoken from her thoughts by a knock on the door.

No way.

Sirius had not actually come, wasn't he supposed to take a day or two to get over the rejection?

Marlene rolled off her bed and ran down the stairs. Pulling the door open, there he stood; Sirius Black. His hands shoved in his pockets, staring at her sideways through his hair.

"Hi." He said, looking her up and down. "Happy Birthday."

She bit her lip, and forced out a smile which she knew didn't look real. "Come in." She said, her voice cracking slightly. God this was awkward.

Sirius had never been in her house before, it wasn't anything special just a normal 4 bedroom house, but it felt safe for some reason. There was a lot of blue, Sirius noticed, and it was calming.

"So.. we need to talk, I guess."

He nodded, and she led him to the living room. He sat down on the blue couch, Marlene sat across from him.

"I'm sorry, Marlene."

She was taken aback by his apology, to say the least. She had expected to tell him over and over again that she wasn't ready to 'date' him, that she needed more time and if he couldn't wait she would understand... this, she had not been expecting.

"Really?"

"Yes," He said. "I realize now that I may have come on a little too strong. You don't like me like I like you... and I guess I would rather be your friend than nothing."

She stared at him in utter shock for a moment. He sounded so... grown up. "Sirius, I... I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. I'm sorry if I put you in a position you weren't comfortable with."

She hesitated for a moment, biting her lip. "Sirius, If I ask you to do something... do you promise to do it without asking any questions or speaking of it ever again?"

"Okay."

"Will you kiss me?"

"Okay."

He stood up, and before she could fully stand to meet him, his lips had collided with hers in a heated kiss. He grabbed her waist, pulling her closer to him. Her hands moved up and dug into his soft black locks. His hands moved from her waist, to her back... under her shirt. She shuddered slightly, there were his soft hands again running up her back. His kiss changed suddenly, it was no longer heated now it was slow, subtle even. He was savoring each second of this encounter.

Sirius let his hands rest at the small of her back. Marlene was scared for some reason. Scared of what she was feeling, of the way he was kissing her...

She pulled out of the kiss and watched Sirius, his eyes were still closed. She bit her lip, her breath had quickened and she felt lightheaded. When he did open his eyes, he just stared back at her. They stayed like that for almost a whole minute, Marlene wasn't quite sure what to do and Sirius just didn't want to let go of her.

"Sirius, can I ask you a question?"

He nodded.

"Why me? You could have girl you wanted, and yet you have continued to pine over me for almost a whole month. Am I just something to do during the summer?"

"Oh no, Marlene. Not at all..." He was quiet for a moment, he was about to get sappy. He hated sappy. But it seemed to be the only way to really, truly covey his feelings for her. "Marlene, you make me nervous. No girl has ever done that before. I have had my little flings, my girlfriends, but none of them really meant anything. I don't care what they think of me, but I find that your opinion of me matters a lot. That's never happened before, so you must be special. I have never not kissed a girl for a month because I didn't want to screw things up."

Marlene pulled out of his grasp and just stared at him. "Bullshit."

"No, not bullshit. I mean it! You think I want to like you this much? I could be having a great summer, but I'm stuck chasing you around like a dog after a bone."

She stared at him once again, her lips pursed with anger. "So what now? What do you want me to say? That I want you to be my boyfriend? Sirius, we both know that would be useless. We would be happy for the rest of the summer, than go back to school and everything would fall apart. Your reputation is important, is it not? Well what would I do to your reputation? I'm nothing, Sirius. I'm just the girl that sits behind you in transfiguration. Nothing more, nothing less."

"I don't care."

"You do care!"

"Can you stop telling me how I fucking feel about you!"

She was taken aback my his curse, and crossed her arms. Staring at him for the third time, this time in silence.

"Marlene, I might love you! Doesn't that mean anything."

"No! Because you have known me for a month, and your seventeen. You don't know what love is."

He watched her for a moment. His eyes filled with anger and hurt, rejection.

"Fine." He all but whispered. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small package and threw it on the couch. "Happy Birthday." He said, and turned.

Marlene heard the door slam not ten seconds later, and watched him run down the street back towards the Potter residence.

_XX00XX_

A/N: So the quote thing was really started to annoy me. I realize this chapter was a little rushed, but I have a final coming up... so I wanted to bang it out before getting to stressed out. Thanks for the reviews!

Pix.


	9. Serenade

A week.

It had been one whole week since that day in the living room with Sirius. Marlene had only see him once, and it was on accident. She had been riding into the village on her bike, and He, James and Remus were outside doing homework, or something that looked like it. Remus waved, and Marlene waved back... but Sirius only glanced in her direction and then back at their project. She didn't leave the house much after that, just sort of moped around. Marlene couldn't understand why this was bothering her so much, after all she had been anticipating it all along. Well, Sirius ignoring her. Not Sirius professing his almost love for her.

But that was besides the point.

Sirius, however, was in agony. Never in his life had he been rejected by a girl, and he had no idea how to deal. Remus had decided to stay with James and Sirius for the rest of the summer, and had constantly been trying to get Sirius to go talk to Marlene.

"Well maybe if you ju-"

"Moony, she made her feelings for me very clear. After what I did- What I said, I just don't know if I could face her again." Sirius said. They were standing in the kitchen, Sirius eating a large turkey sandwich and Remus was leaning over the island, watching him in disgust as he shoved the remaining half of the sandwich in his mouth.

"So that's it, then? You won't talk to her because she bruised your ego?"

"No, I ju- Well maybe, yeah."

"Unbelievable." Remus said, shaking his head as James entered.

"What is?" James said, opening the fridge.

"Pads won't talk to Marlene because she bruised his ego."

James laughed, turning around he leaned on the counter next to Remus. "Oh, Padfoot. How many times has Lily turned me down? You just have to learn to get used to it. Sooner or later, she'll give in. They all give in."

"Prongs, the difference between you and I is I'm not willing to give away every scrap of dignity I have left." Sirius said, an underlying tone of satire in his voice.

"Than you don't really love her." James said, matter of factly.

Sirius stared at him. "Fine, I'll go to her house right now."

"I was just kidding Pads, don't do that."

"No, I'm gonna do it," Sirius said, walking around the island towards the door. "I am gonna ride up on my motorcycle, throw rocks at her window, and sing until she comes down."

He exited the kitchen, and James looked to Remus.

"I gotta see this." James said, jogging out of the kitchen to follow Sirius, Remus rolled his eyes and followed.

James and Remus were on the front lawn when Sirius revved the engine of his motorcycle, and flew down the front driveway and onto the dirt road that lead to the Mckinnon's.

"Come on, if we run we can catch up to him and get there is time to see his public display of affection."

James and Remus ran off after the motorcycle, hoping this would all be worth it in the end. When they finally ran up to Marlene's front yard, panting and out of breath... they realized just how worth it it was. Sirius had parked the motorcycle about five feet away from where he stood, throwing rocks at Marlene's window.

When Marlene finally came to the window and pushed it open, her features contorted into something closely resembling confusion and embarrassment. "What are you doing here!" She yelled, watching him.

But Sirius didn't answer, he just started singing, and badly at that.

"_Oh yeah I, tell you something! I hope you'll understand, when I, say that something... I WANT TO HOLD YOU HAND!" _He screamed at the top of his lungs. Marlene was frozen at her window, staring down at him with her mouth agape. "_I want to hole you haaaaaaand._" He hummed loudly, obviously forgetting most of the words. "_And when I touch you, I feel happy... INSIDE._" He screamed. James was on his knees in the grass, laughing so hard snot was coming out of his nose. Remus was cringing at the horrible sound that was Sirius singing, his arms crossed, staring up at Marlene with an apologetic look. "_It's such a feeling that, my love, I can't hide, I can't hide, I CAN'T HIDE!_"

"THATS IT!" Marlene yelled, a man could be seen behind her, staring out. It was her brother, Caleb. "I'm coming down!" She yelled again, and disappeared. Caleb appeared in the window, staring down at Sirius.

"Hello Sirius!" He yelled with a large grin. Sirius didn't say anything back, for Marlene had exited the house and was now walking toward Sirius with a look of utter shock. She grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him towards his motorbike.

He was grinning like an idiot as she pulled the bike up. "Get on." She said, which he did. She got on the back and instructed him to go. They obviously needed to talk, and she was not going to make a scene of it like Sirius had. The two rode in silence for almost fifteen minutes when Marlene felt the bike slow down, they were somewhere near the edge of the lake on James's property no doubt. He fully stopped the bike, kicked the kickstand and hopped off. Marlene followed suit and stared at him in silence for 30 excruciating seconds.

"What was that all about?" She said finally.

Sirius didn't answer her question, he had inquiries of his own. "Did you open your birthday present?"

"Yes," She unclasped a gold locket from around her neck, handing it to Sirius. "And It's beautiful, but I can't accept it."

"Marlene, please, keep it, it's yours." he said, closing her hand around the locket.

"I can't after the way I treated you." She said.

"Well, In that case..." He said, grinning. Amazingly, she smiled back.

"Oh, shutup." Marlene said, her voice amused, she put the locket around her neck. "So, what is it? I know you didn't come to my house and sing The Beatles outside my window to check if I opened your gift."

All the humor drained from Sirius' face, and he looked at her sideways. She had begun to almost swoon when he did that, she had learned to love the way his grey eyes contrasted with his dark hair. "Oh," He said. "Right."

She bit her lip, and leaned against the motorbike. "Right." She mimicked.

"Well, I just wanted to say... I don't really know. I just wanted to see you." He lied, looking at her sideways again. The color rose in her cheeks immediately, and he laughed.

"Are you laughing at me, Sirius!" He nodded, and she moved forward to slap his arm. "Don't laugh at me, I'm not used to cute boys chasing me around."

"D-did you just call me cute?" He said, a grin spreading across his face from ear to ear.

"N- Yes, maybe... I did, but I didn- Okay, yes I called you cute."

"You think I'm cute!" He said in a sing song voice. "You think I'm sexy, you want to hug me, you want to _kiss _me..."

"I wouldn't go that far." She said, her cheeks now a wonderful shade of dark pink, she turned around so she was no longer facing him. He jogged forward, snaking his arms around her waist and resting his head on her shoulder. She stiffened.

"Oh, come on Marlene. You know you want me," He nipped at her earlobe playfully. "You don't have to say you'll be my girlfriend or anything, just admit that you like me." He said the last bit while swaying her from side to side.

"Fine, I like you." She said, biting her tongue.

"What was that?"

"I like you! Okay? Are you satisfied? Jeez. Now please, let go of me before I do something stupid." She said, wiggling out of his grasp, when she turned to face him the large grin was back.

"I knew it." He said.

"Shutup." She said, throwing a leg over the bike and straddling it. "Now take me home, I'm starving."

_XX00XX_

A/N: So the whole Serenade theory was ode to DigiqueenTMIM, and her fabulous drunk Sirius. Anyway, thanks for the reviews as always! I found his public display of love rather amusing. Hah, Hope you like this chapter!

Pix.


	10. Moonlight

"Where have you been, Marlene?" Caleb yelled slightly as she attempted to sneak back into the house. It was nearly eleven o'clock, and she had been praying her entire family would be asleep. She sighed heavily, leaning against the front door frame. Caleb crossed his arms and sat down on the stairs. "Well?"

She couldn't tell him the truth. The truth had never happened. Sirius and Her were ignoring the fact that they were painfully attracted to one another, ignoring the fact that they kept meeting late into the night to snog down by the lake. And she was ignoring the fact that Sirius had to run off as soon as the moon got highest in the sky... "I was out." She settled with.

"With who?" Caleb asked.

"None of your business." She retorted.

"You were with _him_ again, weren't you!?" He said, rolling his eyes. He, and the rest of her brothers, had made their feelings on her relationship with Sirius quite apparent over the past month. It was nearly the end of August and it was still their favorite topic to discuss when they knew Marlene was listening in the other room.

"Again, that is none of your business. I don't pick into your _affairs_ and I would appreciate it if you didn't pick into mine!"

Caleb stood up, advancing towards his little sister. "I don't like him. He's bad for you."

"That is not your to decide, Caleb. I'm seventeen years old," She paused for a moment and he coughed something that sounded oddly like the word 'barely'. She ignored him and went on. "And it's not like I'm his girlfriend or anything, we just enjoy one another's company."

"I'm just worried about how much he's enjoying your company..." Caleb said, and Marlene blushed and chuckled slightly.

"Go to sleep, Caleb. I'll see you in the morning."

"Wait, Marlene you haven't.. Oh no! Not with him!"

"Go to sleep!"

She didn't turn around again, he went on yelling about something that contained the words 'grimy mutt' and 'i'll kill him', but Marlene ignored him. Shutting her door quietly, she fell back onto her bed, closing her eyes and not bothering to take her clothes off. It was hot in her room, and she fell asleep quickly, the window open and the only sound that of crickets chirping outside.

Marlene's eyes snapped open. Howling. She had been hearing howling for almost an hour. Glancing up at the clock, she had only been asleep for three hours, and she was soaked with sweat.

Howling. There it was again. She stood and stumbled towards the window, sticking her head out she looked down upon her front lawn. The moon was bright, and when she looked up at the sky, she noticed it was a cloudless night. The howling was close now, a little bit too close. What was it...

Usually she would have been a little bit more cautious, but she was something closely resembling Sirius Black's girlfriend, and he was rubbing off on her. She was now curious, a little bit too curious, curious enough too climb down the side of her house ad investigate. She was barefoot and the grass was surprisingly cold on her feet, her hair was sticking to the back of her neck and her entire body was tingling with anticipation. She was getting closer to the howling now, and she could see a few dark figures up ahead.

What on earth had possessed her to do this? She froze as one of the large shapes noticed her. It froze also.

They stared at each for the longest ten seconds Marlene had ever experienced. It was coming closer now and Marlene realized it was a large black dog. The largest black dog Marlene had ever seen, she strangled out a laugh, backing up.

"Nice doggy..." She said, ready to turn and run. Than suddenly the dog wasn't a dog anymore.

The dog was Sirius Black.

He breath caught in her throat, and she was barely managing to not choke to death. Her eyes were wide as she heard another howl, Sirius was behind her in a flash guiding her towards... she didn't really know, a direction that was away from the howling.

"What the hell are you doing out here, Marlene?" He didn't sound angry, just worried.

"Yo-your an Animagus!" She said, stating the obvious. But Sirius didn't answer, her was still steering her back down towards her house.

"Shh, I'll explain in a moment. Let's just get you back in your room."

Marlene was confused to say the least. Sirius Black was a dog; on any other occasion she would have found this the most hysterical, ironic thing she had ever heard of. But there was no time for that now, obviously something much more dangerous was lurking close by. Sirius had a strange look in his eye, a protective gleam Marlene had never seen before. When they finally reached her house, Sirius opened the front door and ushered her inside. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her up the stairs and into her room. He closed the door and turned to face her.

"Sirius, what is going on?"

"Mo- Remus is a werewolf. James, Peter and I learned how to become animagi in our third year so that we could help him cope better when he transformed." He rushed out.

"Your a dog?" She asked stupidly. Of all the question, out of everything she was just told...

"Yes," He answered. "What were you doing roaming around outside at three in the morning! You could have bee killed."

"I-i don't know, I heard the howling and I was confused- Wow, the nicknames make sense now. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and prongs. Let me guess, Deer and Rat?"

Sirius nodded, moving swiftly towards the window and closing it. When he turned, Marlene was eyeing him strangely.

"What?"

"If I didn't know you, I'd say you were scared of something.."

"I just know Remus would never forgive himself if he hurt anybody."

"Well, we are in my room now. I don't think Remus the werewolf will come near my house." She sat on the bed, staring up at Sirius. He was looking around her room like he was at the zoo.

"So this is where you sleep." He said.

"I just found out your an illegal animagus along with your two friends, and Remus is a werewolf and you want to talk about my room?"

"What? I've never been in here before."

"Well, the bathroom is down the hall if you want to see where I shower." Marlene outright laughed when he glanced towards the door considering it. "You can sit down, you know. You don't have to stand guard at the window."

He hesitated for a second, but walked towards the bed and sat down anyway. Marlene had only just realized Sirius was shirtless, and how the moonlight coming through the window was casting dark shadows on his attractive features. Oh, if one of her brothers were to walk in right now...

Marlene looked over at him, glancing him up and down. "What are you thinking about?"

"The moon." He said, still gazing out the window.

"What?"

"I never understood what it was about moonlight, it does things to people. I mean, it changes men into monsters, it controls the tides of the ocean, It can make you fall in love." He glanced at Marlene. "Everything looks better in the moonlight. I don't mean appearances, I mean thoughts and fantasies. Somehow, it brings them to life, makes them real." He turned to stare at Marlene, raising his hand to brush along her cheek. A blush was visible almost immediately, and he smiled.

"You should go." She said suddenly, though didn't move an inch.

"I know." He said, leaning in to kiss her, but she backed away.

"No, not tonight. Something will happen, I can't control myself around you, Sirius. You can stay, just please, no kissing, okay?" She was breathing heavily, and Sirius could swear he could see her shaking slightly. He laughed on the inside, he could finally make her weak in the knees.

"You can't control yourself around me?" He said, raising his eyebrows.

"You make me do things I wouldn't usually do. I wandered out that window tonight because, somehow, I knew it had something to do with you."

He grinned, a mischievous glint in his grey eyes. "Well if you don't want to kiss me, what are we going to do 'till morning?"

"What are you talking about?" She asked, her eyes moving to the window as another howl sounded from outside.

"I'm not going to leave you alone with the threat of a werewolf." He leaned in closer to her. He knew there was no threat, James was out there with Remus. And he had seen Marlene as well, seen Sirius take her back to her house. Everything was fine, but that didn't mean Sirius was going to let Marlene know that. This was too good an opportunity to pass up.

She bit her lip, and Sirius couldn't help but shiver slightly. It killed him when she did that, Marlene said he had control over her... he would bet money it was nothing against what she had over him.

"We'll sleep." She said, sliding past him to lay on the bed.

"What?"

"Lay down. We won't do anything, but you can still lay next to me. Were safe in the house, right?" He nodded. "Well what do people do when they have long amount of time to kill locked in a bedroom."

Sirius could come up with a few more exciting alternatives, but didn't say anything. He just laid next to her flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling. After about half an hour he heard Marlene's breathing become steady, and looked over to see her sleeping. He had never seen her sleep before, she looked so- Well he liked the animated, awake Marlene much better. He was, however, going to take full advantage of this situation. So he turned on his side and threw an arm over her sleeping body, holding her, and for the first time she didn't try and wiggle out of it after two minutes.

Sirius didn't remember falling asleep. But he must have, because the next morning when he opened one eye, he was still in Marlene's room. Glancing up at the clock, he groaned, it was only eight o'clock. Why had he woken up? There was a knock on the door and Sirius froze.

"Marlene, wake up!" It was one of her brothers, which one Sirius didn't know. He didn't care, he had known Marlene long enough to know they were all fiercely protective of their younger sister. Sirius was attempting to roll over onto the side of the bed and hide when the door opened and Louis sauntered in.

"Marle- What the hell?" Sirius and Louis stared at one another in silence. Both frozen to the spot. Marlene had woken up.

She sat up, bringing her hand to her forehead. "Oh god, this isn't happening." She said under her breathe. Sirius fell out of the bed.

_XX00XX_

A/N: Okay, so I just wanted to squeeze her finding out he's an animagus before I ended the summer. The next chapter, Diagon Alley! And after that, their seventh year at Hogwarts. Anyway, Hope you liked this chapter! Please Review.

Pix.


	11. Fabian

Sirius and Marlene were seated in the living room. Sitting across from them were Louis and Mark, Caleb would have been there but he was out for the day with his latest girlfriend. Marlene hung her head in complete and utter shame, how had she let this happen? Her brothers had found Sirius Black half naked, spooning with their baby sister.

She was never going to live this down.

"Sirius," His head shot up, it was Mark who was speaking to him. "What are your intentions with my little sister?"

Marlene was going to die. She was going to die of shame right here, right now. And as if things could get no worse, Sirius grabbed Marlene's hand, looked Mark in the eye and said the worst thing he could possibly say.

"I intend to make her my girlfriend, and one day if she will have me, my wife."

He was obviously joking, the thought of Sirius Black considering anything but eternal bachelorhood was unfathomable. Mark wasn't laughing.

"Sirius Black, I swear to god if I ever see you anywhere near my sister with or without your clothes on ever again, I wi-"

"Mark, stop. It's not his fault. I asked him to stay."

Louis looked up, he hadn't spoken since he found them. "You what?"

"I was with him last night, and I asked him to come over. He snuck in, and we fell asleep. Nothing happened, I'll swear on mum's best china."

Louis and Mark were silent for a minute. "Fine." Mark finally said. "But you," He was eyeing Sirius with dismay. "Go home."

Sirius nodded and stood, he leaned down and kissed Marlene on the cheek. Grinning, her waved at her brothers and Mark all but chased him out the door. When Mark returned to the room he wouldn't look Marlene in the eye, and she took the opportunity to leave the room as quickly as she could manage. Marlene had had her awkward moment fill for the rest of the year, and she couldn't take Mark and Louis looking at her as if they had found their baby sister in the throws of passion with Voldemort himself.

It was almost a week before Louis or Mark could look her in the eye. They had obviously told Caleb of Marlene's late night excursion, and living in her house had become nearly unbearable. Marlene was at the complete will of her brothers, if she didn't obey them, they would tell her mother or worse, her father. She didn't think they would care as much as her brothers let on, but she wasn't going to take a chance. And on top of all of that, she was going back to school in four days. Homework wasn't a issue. She had finished that earlier in the summer, it was the dread of what would happen with Sirius that was killing her. What would happen to them once they were in school and Marlene wasn't the only girl around anymore. She had some ideas, but it hurt too much to even consider them.

Her school letter came Tuesday before September first. Her mother and Father were both to busy to take her to Diagon Alley, so Marlene was going with Alice and Fabian.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us? Were going into London before hand to- uh.."

"Get into trouble?"

"Maybe a little."

Marlene sat under the oak tree with Sirius, his arm lazily slung around her shoulders. James was inside finishing up the last of his homework, and Remus was helping him.

"I'm going with Alice and Fabian, I haven't gotten a chance to see them for almost the whole summer. And I must admit, that is entirely your fault." She said with a coy smile.

"Didn't you, uh... fancy Fabian?" He asked, playing with her hair.

"Yeah, a little. Why?"

"Do you still?"

"Fancy Fabian?"

"No, like cheese. Yes, Fancy him!" He said. He shouldn't care this much, Marlene wasn't even his girlfriend. Well, not yet at least.

"Is that a hint of jealousy I hear in your voice?" She said, leaning forward to look him in the face.

"No. I'm just saying, he's a bit of a pouf." That was a outright lie. Sirius had always rather liked Gideon and Fabian, they were fun. But the thought of Marlene liking Fabian made his blood boil. She couldn't like him. Not anymore. Why would she?

"He is not. And no, I don't fancy him anymore, he's one of my best friends, and it was stupid to ever think we could be anything more than that."

"Did he ever fancy you back? Have you ever kissed him?"

"What is with all the questions?" She questioned, scooting away from him. "Why do you care so much?"

"What do you mean why do I care? Your my gi-" He stopped. He couldn't say that, because she wasn't exactly his girlfriend. Marlene, however, was frozen.

"I'm your what?" She asked.

"Nothing." He said. She sighed heavily and stood up.

"I should go home and get ready. They're picking me up at two, I should shower."

She turned to go, but Sirius stood up and grabbed her arm. Pulling her around, her kissed her lightly. "I'll see you later, then?"

Marlene smiled slightly, looking down at her feet. "Yeah, I'll meet you outside Gringotts by five. See you."

Before Sirius had time to say a word, Marlene was running back towards her house. He had a bad feeling about Fabian, but brushed it aside. Sirius had always had a mean jealous streak, and he wasn't very good at hiding it. The minute he walked into the house, Remus noticed something was wrong immediately.

"Pads, what's wrong?" He asked, hardly glancing up from his Arithmancy book. Sirius fell back onto the couch, his hair falling into his eyes with casual elegance.

"It's Marly. I think she still fancies Fabian Prewett." At this, Remus looked up.

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know, I just have this feeling in my stomach th-"

"Padfoot, your looking to much into the situation. That girl is bat crazy mad for you, and we all know it." James said, his quill scratching on the parchment sitting in front of him. "Stop assuming, and just let things play themselves out," He dipped the quill into the ink on his right and looked up at Sirius. "It will all work out in the end."

Remus couldn't help but nod his head in a agreement. "Prongs is right. Everything will be fine in the end. If it's not fine, it's not the end."

Marlene Mckinnon showered quickly, bid goodbye to her mother, and waited on the front steps for her friends. She was nervous about telling Alice and Fabian about Sirius. She had the distinct feeling it would be a complete and utter disaster. When Fabian' truck finally pulled up her driveway, however, all thoughts of Sirius were stricken from her mind. He grinned from ear to ear as soon as he stepped out, but it was Alice that ran forward and nearly tackled her friend to the ground.

"Marlene! I've missed you so much." Marlene laughed slightly and hugged her friend back.

"I've missed you too. Hello Fabian." She said, as he pushed Alice aside and enveloped her in a bear hug.

"Hey there Marly, How ya been?"

"I've been alright. And yourself?" She asked.

"Busy, Molly is pregnant again. Gid sends his greeting, he's helping her around the house."

They stood there awkwardly for a moment, Alice looking between them with an odd look on her face. Finally, she clapped her hands together and spoke.

"Should we go then? It's nearly two thirty and I have to be home by seven, so-" She apparated before she finished her sentence. Fabian shook his head.

"I hate it when she does that." And he apparated as well. Marlene was the last to go, she closed her eyes and was gone with a pop. Within seconds she was standing in diagon alley.

"Lets eat, I'm starving. You want to go to the leaky cauldron?" Marlene didn't answer. She was looking around at the nearly deserted diagon alley. Store fronts were boarded up, wanted posters hung in nearly every window.

"What happened here?" She said, looking at both of her friends. It was Fabian who answered.

"Things have been hectic lately, Marly. Diagon Alley is only the half of it. Come on, Alice and I will explain over lunch."

And they did. Once the three were seated at a rickety old table, the pair told Marlene everything they knew about the beginning stages of an all out war. Voldemort had gathered a group of followers the Daily Prophet called 'Death Eaters' and he was quickly gaining power. They explained that there were rumors that Dumbledore was going to take matters into his ow hands and fight back.

"Wow, I've missed alot being tucked away in the country."

"Speaking of, what's this Alice tells me about you and Sirius Black?" Alice kicked him under the table. Marlene couldn't help but smile slightly at mention of his name, and the hint of jealousy in Fabian's voice.

"Uh, Yeah." She swallowed. "I'm his- Well I'm not sure, but he likes me."

"Your not sure?" Fabian asked.

"No." She answered. "We've been together nearly every day of the summer. The Marauders aren't actually as bad as I always thought."

"So, are you gonna be his girlfriend?" That earned him another kick from Alice.

Marlene's eyes bulged slightly. "I-I don't know."

They sat in silence for almost five minutes after that. When their food came, Alice thankfully started a conversation about the new joke shop opening in Hogsmeade. Marlene didn't listen, she ate her sandwich quietly, and thought. Why had Fabian sounded so jealous talking about Sirius? Could it be, that the thought of her finding another guy to pine over had stirred up some emotions he didn't know he had?

No. That would be ridiculous.

_XX0XX_

A/N: So, you're probably wondering about her meeting with Sirius? That will be adressed in the next chapter. This chapter was more of a Squeeze-in-random-bits-of-info-before-the-summer-ends, and I didn't want this chap to get out of hand long and run on-y. Yay for some Fabian/Sirius Rivalry! Hope you liked it. REVIEW! Hah.

Pix.


	12. Hogwarts

Awkward.

That was the only word Marlene could use to describe meeting Sirius.

Alice, Fabian and herself had met Sirius in front of Gringott's like she had promised, and the second he caught sight of Fabian Sirius grabbed Marlene and practically tried to detach his jaw and swallow her whole. Sirius told them that the rest of the Marauders were waiting for them at the Leaky Cauldron. When they arrived at the leaky cauldron, James and Lily were arguing over something concerning cabbage, they were all shocked to see Peter snogging with a sixth year Hufflepuff he had met at a Quidditch game, and Remus was sitting quietly observing the table.

During dinner Sirius had made a scene out of asking Fabian about Dorcas Meadowes, knowing that she had also dated Remus, and caused Fabian to turn red and announce to the table they had broken up only a week before. And to make matters worse, when asked why they parted, he looked at Marlene, turned the color of a cherry tomato and left to go the restroom.

It had been a complete and utter disaster.

Sirius had tried to convince the three of them to come back to James' place for firewhiskey, but they declined. Marlene didn't want to put Fabian through anymore torture, and she was rather livid with Sirius. When Alice and Fabian were both seated in Marlene's room, she turned to Fabian to apologize.

"I'm so sorry about Sirius, Fabian. He has this crazy idea that I st- That I fancy you." She forced out a laugh. So did Alice, but it sounded loud and over the top. Fabian, however, was slowly turning a dark shade of pink. Alice looked from Marlene to Fabian, and then back to Marlene.

"I'll see you tomorrow on the train. You two obviously have some things to talk about." Marlene was about to protest, but Alice waved and was gone with a pop. Fabian didn't hesitate to dive right in.

"Marlene, I don't know how to say this, but I-" He stopped, and Marlene froze. This was not happening. Oh please no, don't let this be happening. "Alice and I were talking in the car on the way over here. And she let it slip that you, uh, you fancied me last year. Is that true?"

OH NO! No, this was not happening. No, no no. "Yeah." Marlene forced out, staring at him in complete shock.

"Oh." He said, staring down at his hands. He looked up. "I don't know why you never said anything."

Was he retarded? Why would she tell him. She couldn't even speak, but she didn't have to, because Fabian had more to say.

"I've liked you since fourth year..."

Oh no.

"... And seeing you with Sirius today, well, it killed me..."

This wasn't happening.

"... And I was just wondering where you stand with him, if I have a shot..."

Marlene was going to pass out. Why did life always work out this way? Just when she was over him, just when she had found someone who would help her move on...

"Stop." She said, and he did.

Fabian Prewett was everything Marlene had ever wanted. He was handsome, funny, sweet, caring... and if he would have told her this six months ago she would have fell to her knees and thanked Merlin. But now she wasn't sure how she felt about it. She stared at him, her delicate features contorted with confusion.

"Fabian, I don't know where I stand with Sirius. And I don't know how I feel about you anymore." She didn't know what else to say.

"Then kiss me."

"What?"

"Kiss me, and if you feel nothing.. I'll never bother you about this again." He stood up and advanced towards her. She backed up.

"But Fabi-" She wasn't able to finish, for Fabian had placed a hand on her cheek and was leaning in to kiss her. When his lips finally met hers, it didn't feel right.

There was no spark, no fire or passion in his kiss. She opened her eyes, and watched him. He was kissing her with everything he had, obviously feeling something she wasn't. Something was wrong, and even thought she didn't want to admit it, she knew what it was.

He wasn't Sirius.

She pulled away, and he was gasping for breathe, and grinning like an idiot. She stared at him with a mixture of agony and pity on her face, and his face fell.

"Nothing?"

"I'm so sorry, Fabian. It's just... too late."

"He's going to hurt you."

"I know."

"Than why stay with him?"

She paused. Fabian was her best friend, so what if they happened to hit a road block, she could still tell him the truth, right? "I don't know, it just... it feels right."

"And it doesn't with me."

"It's different with you."

He nodded silently, staring down at his feet. "Well, I uh... better get home. Molly is probably worried." She could have sworn she heard his voice crack. He leaned forward and kissed her cheek, and apparated with a crack.

'_Shit.'_ was all Marlene could think before collapsing onto her bed.

Marlene couldn't remember falling asleep, but at eight o'clock Louis came in to wake her up.

"Glad there wasn't a half naked boy in your bed this time."

"Shutup."

Marlene jumped in the shower, threw on a pair of jeans and a Chudely Cannons t-shirt, threw nearly everything she owned and then some in her trunk, grabbed Wendelin and set off for Kings Cross Station. Mark dropped her off, and in a matter of minutes she was boarding the nearly empty Hogwarts Express. Ducking into the first empty compartment, she threw her trunk under the seat along with Wendelin who screeched loudly, and collapsed onto the bench seat.

Marlene hadn't had a chance to think about the night before, and having arrived ridiculously early for the train, she would probably be alone for a while and have some time to think. It was strange to consider that three months ago she wasn't anyone at all, she was just a homely little Ravenclaw in love with her popular best friend. And now, she was one Sirius Black's almost girlfriend, and said popular boy had professed he had liked her since they were fourteen.

Actually, now that she thought about it... it could be worse.

Within a half an hour the train started filling up, Alice was late as usual, but Sirius, Remus and Peter managed to find her. She was still upset with Sirius, but sick of sitting alone, so she let them stay.

"Where is Prongs?" She asked. Over the last month, she had spent so much time around the Marauders that the nicknames only seemed natural.

Sirius and Peter both grinned, and Remus sent them both disapproving looks.

"James is head boy." Sirius said. Marlene's jaw dropped.

"But Lily is-"

"Head girl, we know. James was excited as all hell, but Lily looked something between affronted and livid." Sirius finished, and Remus looked shocked at his use of the word 'affronted'.

"Wow. That's gonna make for an interesting year." Marlene said. She could think of a few other scenarios that would make for a interesting year, but wasn't about to divulge them in front of Peter and Remus. But within fifteen minutes, Remus had prefect duties, and Peter had wandered off with his girlfriend, and Sirius and Marlene were alone. But before Marlene could say anything about Fabian, Sirius leaned over and began kissing Marlene's neck. She couldn't think, and by the time he made his way to her lips, she didn't want to think about Fabian anymore.

Alice never came to the compartment Sirius and Marlene were kissing in, Marlene figured she had prefect duties. They weren't interrupted until they were fifteen minutes from Hogwarts. Neither of them even looked up when the door slid open.

"Oh my- I'm sorry." Marlene froze. She turned to see Fabian, standing awkwardly in the doorway. He looked utterly heartbroken, She could hear Gideon behind him.

"Is that Marlene and Sirius! Holy hell, you weren't lying!" He said, Sirius laughed. Fabian was still staring down at both of them.

"I just came to tell the both of you were nearly at school, and you might want to change into your robes. I'll see you at the feast, Marlene." And he backed up, and out into the hallway. Gideon poked his head in and waved, Sirius waved back and Marlene smiled awkwardly. He left and they were alone again.

"What was that about?" Sirius asked Marlene.

"Oh, Fabian just sort of has a problem with you and I being together. It's no big deal, ju-"

"He fancies you, doesn't he." Sirius said bluntly.

"A bit, yeah." She said.

"I knew it!"

Marlene spent the rest of the way there listening to Sirius rant about Fabian and his crush on Marlene. She had never been happier to see Alice poke her head in the compartment.

"Hey lovebirds, time to get off the train." She said with a smile, and Marlene sent her a glare. Sirius, Marlene, Alice and Frank caught up with the rest of the marauders outside by the carriages. Within five minutes the group was seated in the great hall, The Marauders, Frank and Gideon all at the Gryffindor table, and Alice, Fabian and Marlene at the Ravenclaw table. They all went through the motions; The sorting, School announcements, and finally, the feast.

Marlene was happily eating a large plate of potatoes and avoiding Fabian's sideways glances when Alice elbowed her, and pointed to one of their fellow Ravenclaws, Tabitha Marsh. She was glaring at Marlene with a look that could put out a fire.

"Yes, Tabitha?" Alice said, her voice acidic.

"Marlene, is it true that your Sirius Black's girlfriend?" She asked, her voice just as icy as Alice's had been.

Everyone in the immediate area went silent, and Marlene glanced over at the Gryffindor table to see Sirius was also frozen, watching the Ravenclaw table intently.

"Yes, what's it to you?" Marlene said, raising her eyebrows. Tabitha scoffed and turned back to her friend, animatedly discussing the new gossip. Marlene glanced up to see Sirius grinning wider than she had ever seen. Fabian hung his head so slow, that his head was nearly laying in his dinner plate.

What had she done.

_XX0XX_

_A/N: Finally the summer is over! The end of this chapter was a little all over the place, Im aware. If anyone is confused by my horrible transitions, tell me and I'll attempt to get better. Next chapter will be JUICY so watch out for that. Hope you liked it! Thanks for the reviews! _

_Pix._


	13. Girlfriend

After dinner, Sirius stole Marlene in the hallway. Pulling her out of the line of Ravenclaws by her hand, he dragged her to a deserted corridor grinning widely.

"So your my girlfriend now?"

"I guess so. But don't let that get around, I don't want any death threats." She said, crossing her arms and looking down at her feet.

Ah, don't worry about them," He said, referring of course to his fan club. "I've had girlfriends before, and all of them managed to make it out alive."

"Well, halfway at least." She mumbled as he uncrossed her arms and leaned into kiss her.

"What?" He said, pulling back.

"Sirius don't pretend like you don't know your a heartbreaker. Remember when you dated Diana Withdrow? She's a Ravenclaw, and we all couldn't sleep for a week because she wouldn't stop sobbing at night. She switched out of astronomy because you were in that class, and to this day... she still hates you." She was speaking fast, and motioning with her arms. Sirius had backed away and was staring at her in a state of shock.

"I had no idea..."

"That's because you never cared enough. You drop girls as if its nothing and then just pick up a new one, there is no transition period, no time for the girl to heal. Because, as I have noticed over the last few months, you rarely think of the repercussions that come with your actions." She finished.

He was staring at his shoes now. He looked like a little boy that had been scolded by his mother. "You sound just like, Moony."

"Yeah, well Moony is right. And I know it's not right to judge someone by their past, but I'm not gonna lie to you and say I'm not scared that you will just break my heart and cast me aside like you did the others." They stood in agonizing silence. Marlene was terrified of what she had said, finally she had told him what she had been scared of from the beginning. Would he be mad? Would he still want to be her boyfriend even though she thought him a complete whore?

"Marlene, don't think that, please. I would never do that to you."

"You say that now, but in a month, who knows. After all, were seventeen... for all we know, this whole relationship could be based on hormones." She strangled out a laugh. The look on his face was killing her. She had to leave. "Alice probably thinks I'm dead so I better get back to the common room. We'll talk more tomorrow then?" He nodded and leaned forward to kiss her cheek, letting his hand linger on her cheek, he brushed the side of her face. She blushed and he chuckled slightly.

"Oh be quiet," She uttered. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Marlene speed walked all the way back to the common room. Stopping outside in front of the large bronze knocker, she waited for her riddle.

"Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will die. What am I?" Marlene paused, biting her lip.

"Fire?"

She clambered into the Ravenclaw common room, which was bustling with activity. The first years were visible across the room, huddled together in fear of the older students. Dorcas Meadowes was having an animated conversation with Alice, Fabian was next to her looking extremely uncomfortable. Marlene edged her way through a group of six years, huddled over a box that smelled horrible, and stopped when she caught wind of the conversation.

"... And that Black was talking about something or other, I don't know I didn't listen after that. But I did hear that Remus sai- Oh hi Marlene." Dorcas said, and Alice turned her head so quick Marlene was surprised it didn't spin off.

"Where were you?"

"No where special. What were you guys talking about?"

Dorcas glanced at Fabian, then Alice, and finally Marlene. "So it's true your with Black?"

"Yes, you were there during dinner." She answered, taking a seat next to Fabian, who was all but squirming in his seat. "Listen you two, I don't kn-"

"Don't get defensive, Marlene. She's just curious about... how exactly it happened." Alice said softly.

"What do you mean?"

"How on earth did you manage to catch the attention of Sirius Black?" Dorcas asked bluntly.

Marlene stared at her. She couldn't really tell if she was Offended or angry, or maybe, a mixture of both. Alice was staring at Dorcas incredulously and Fabian was looking over at her with his jaw hanging open.

"What?" Marlene said.

"Well, you know... your just, not really his type. He usually dates, uhm..."

"Prettier girls? Well, let me tell you someth-" Marlene stopped, for Fabian had interjected.

"Shutup, Dori. What do you know?" He snapped, and Dorcas looked taken aback. She stood, gathered her things, and huffed all the way up to the dormitory. Alice was staring after her, shocked.

"Fabian, you didn't have to do that." Marlene said, tearing her eyes away from where Dorcas had just stormed away.

"Yes I did. She had no right to judge you like that. Your relationship with Black is your business, not hers. We didn't bombard her with questions when she was dating Remus, and no one got on her case when she was my girlfriend."

Alice giggled slightly. "Yeah, Fabian, but your not Sirius Black; School Gigolo."

"Oh, is that what were calling him than?" Marlene asked, her voice reeking with sarcasm.

Fabian grinned, and laughed out loud. "Hey, You want to sneak down to the kitchen and get some butterbeer? We don't start class until the day after tomorrow, and by the looks of this bunch, we won't be sleeping anytime soon." He sounded almost desperate.

Alice hopped out of her chair at once. "Ah, great idea. Marlene, are you coming?" Alice said, grabbing Marlene's arm and pulling her off the chair. Marlene laughed.

"Well I have a lot of reading to do. Do I really have a say in the matter?"

Fabian pushed her towards the door. "No, not really."

Marlene woke with a start. Alice was standing over her, brushing her teeth.

"Morthing Shunshine." She said, through her toothbrush.

Marlene put her hand to her head and sat up. "What time is it?"

Alice paused, taking the toothbrush out of her mouth. "Nearly eight. Hurry up, or we'll miss breakfast." She walked back into the washroom, and Marlene stumbled out of bed and over to her trunk. The only thing she could remember about the night before was something being terribly wrong with the butterbeer. The rest of the night was a blur of activity concerning Fabian dancing on a table in nothing but his undergarments, and a horribly long game of exploding snap.

Marlene pulled on her skirt, dress shirt and tie. She didn't bother to tuck in her shirt, or even tighten up her tie. Alice 'tsk'd' when she walked out of the bathroom.

"Don't you look a right mess, Sirius is gonna love it." She winked, laughed, and Marlene made a sour face. "What's wrong?"

"I think Sirius may be upset with me. I don't know, maybe."

"Why?" Alice sat on Marlene's bed, looking genuinely interested in what Marlene had to say.

"Well I told him that he-" Marlene stopped, Dorcas had just walked out of the washroom, a scowl plastered on her face.

"Morning." She uttered. Alice said nothing, and Marlene nodded her head.

"Come on Alice, I'll tell you later, I'm starving."

The two girls climbed down the stairs, walked through the common room, and began the trek towards the Great Hall. They never made it there, for Sirius, Remus and Frank were waiting for them on the second floor outside the Defense against the dark arts classroom. Alice smiled and moved to stand next to Frank.

"What are you guys doing here?" She said, playing with his hair.

"We had to get out of the Great Hall," Sirius said. "Prongs and Lily have been arguing for almost an hour, and we couldn't take it anymore."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I wish they would just snog and get it out of the way." Sirius looked at Remus in shock and Marlene burst out laughing, but she stopped almost at once. Her head was throbbing. She raised a hand to her forehead and winced slightly.

"Whats wrong?" Remus asked, and Marlene looked up to see Remus and Sirius were both staring at her with concern.

"Nothing." She said, taking a deep breathe. Alice laughed.

"If nothing means 'Alcohol laced butterbeer' than yes." Marlene sent her a death glare.

"What?" Sirius said.

"Oh, it was nothing really... just a little party in the common room. Some other seventh years, nothing special." Alice than took the opportunity to launch into a detail encounter of the nights events. (Luckily, she left out the Fabian dancing in his undergarments.) They all walked back down to the first floor, and outside onto the grounds. It was still early, but a lot of students had come outside, it was beautiful out.

The five of them made their way over to the tree by the lake where James, Lily and Peter sat. Peter looked bored, and Lily and James were bickering.

"What is wrong now, Lily?"

"Don't call me Lily."

"Why not, that's your name."

"It just... makes me uncomfortable."

"Well if you would prefer My Fiery Goddes, I would be happy to oblige."

"Shutup, Potter."

Marlene, Sirius, Remus, Frank and Alice all collapsed underneath the large tree. Remus pulled out a book, Frank and Alice began to re-hash everything that had happened over the summer, and Sirius and Marlene sat in an awkward silence.

"So, you had a fun night?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah." Marlene said. They sat in silence again, Marlene looked at him, then at the ground, then back at him. "Sirius, I'm sorry about last night."

"It's okay. I talked to Remus about it... Let's just not talk about that right now. I would much rather listen to James and Lily argue over the color of Gaint squid's backside or whatever." Marlene laughed and laid back on the grass.

"It's so obviously blue, Potter!"

"Now see, I would say more of a dark purple..."

"Ugh."

Marlene chuckled. She had a feeling this was going to be a very interesting year.

_XX0XX  
_

A/N: So yeah, SUPER filler chapter. I didn't deliver the JUCYNESS, I was planning a Fabian/Sirius fight, but I just couldn't fit it in. So Nothing happened. This is the result of me having no creativity before my BIG ASS exam. DEVIL ACT'S GRRRR. So yeah, Review. Tell me how bad I suck. That would be great. Hah.

Pix.


	14. Tempers

September flew past in whirlwind of Homework, studying and Marlene's new found social life. Of course, Marlene would never be the social butterfly that was Alice, but she was doing alright. On more than one occasion Marlene had opted out of sneaking out to read a book, or finish an essay for Charms.

"Oh come on, Were all meeting in the Room of Requirement, please come.. It's gonna be fun!" Alice pleaded, throwing a book off Marlene's bed and sitting down. Marlene was in full blown studious mode, hair pulled back, glasses on.

"Alice, I have a lot of work to d-"

"Your coming, Marlene. You haven't come out with us in over a week! Sirius actually pouted last time I saw him." Alice smiled innocently, pulling her out of her bed. Marlene sighed and gave in, slipping on her shoes.

"Who's going to be there?" Marlene asked as she jogged to keep up with Alice, who was rushing down the stairs.

"Uh, Frank, Sirius, Peter, Lily, James, Remus, Peter's new girlfriend... and I told Fabian and Dora they could come if they wanted." Since the first night back, they had reconciled with Dorcas Meadowes. The fight hadn't really lasted long, she came and apologized three days into it. Marlene nodded, and again, hurried after Alice down the corridor that would take them too the Room of requirement.

She was pulling her hair out of the ponytail when Alice stopped in front of a wall and began to pace. An opening suddenly appeared, and Marlene could see that the room had transformed into something resembling a common room. There were several chairs and couches, cushions on the floor, a roaring fire, and various posters hung on the walls. Marlene hurried through the opening, and it closed almost immediately.

"Marly!" She heard Sirius yell, and he ran to her, grabbing her around the waist. "We didn't think you'd come."

"Yeah, well.. Alice told me you pouted." He grinned, and leaned into kiss her. Marlene looked up for a split second and caught Fabian's eye and pulled away. His eyes held the same hurt and desperation they had on the train.

"What's the matter?" Sirius asked, taking her hand and pulling her towards one of the cushions on the floor.

"Nothing." She said, shaking her head.

An hour, and countless bottles of butterbeer later, the group was strewn across the room discussing their views on the upcoming war. It was no surprise that James was by far the most outspoken about the subject.

"I think the whole blood purity thing is complete rubbish. After all, Lily here is Muggle-Born and she is one of the smartest, and talented witches in the whole school." Lily rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "Marlene," He head popped up at the sound of her name. "Your our other smartie, are you a pureblood?"

"No," She answered softly. "My father is Muggleborn, but he went to Hogwarts."

James nodded. "See! It doesn't take blood to be a good witch or wizard." He finished, leaning back into the wall. It was Sirius who spoke next.

"I should know better than anyone how fanatic those damn blood elitist can be. After all, half of my family hate Muggles. My great aunt tried to make Muggle hunting legal." Marlene giggled slightly, and Lily looked appalled. Sirius went on to talk about something concerning a certain death eater named Fenrir Greyback, but Marlene didn't pay attention.

She noticed Peter's little girlfriend was squirming in her seat. When she looked away, she caught Frank's eye and realized she wasn't the only one who had noticed it.

"Colleen," He said, cutting Sirius off and shooting him an apologetic glance. "What are your views on the war?"

Colleen squirmed slightly, and Peter looked over at her with alarm. All eyes were on her and she stared back at them with a strange look in her eyes... bitterness?

"I think your all a bunch of Muggle loving freaks! My father says that the death eaters know what there doing, and that Hogwarts shouldn't be opened to those with blood that has been soiled by-" James was standing now.

"Be quiet you little tart!" He yelled in her direction, he was bright red. Marlene could tell that he had taken that comment rather personally, after all, Lily was sitting right next to him. Lily, however, was staring at Colleen as if she would like nothing more than to punch her square in the nose. "How dare you come in here and spew such rubbish. Your in the company of people wh-" He paused, bringing a hand to his forehead and glancing down at Lily. "Peter, I think you should take Colleen back to her side of the castle."

Sirius spoke next. "Yeah, back to the dungeons where she belongs."

Peter stood up with Colleen and the both of them exited the room of requirement with haste. The next hour whizzed by in a blur of discussions on the war, Frank and Alice snogging in the corner, and Remus and Dorcas nearly re-kindling their old romance. The whole time, Fabian sat in the corner with his brother, Gideon who had showed up ten minutes after Colleen had left. Sirius kept trying to kiss Marlene, but she couldn't bear the sight of Fabian's face every time she glanced towards him.

Sirius, however, was becoming annoyed. He was paying painful attention to every sideways glance, every small little pout in Fabian's direction. After almost fifteen minutes of trying to engage his girlfriend, he leaned back, sighing in annoyance. "If your going to keep looking at him, why don't you just go over there."

Marlene turned to stare at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Sirius sat up. "You keep looking over at him! If you would rather be with him... than just go. I don't want to have to beg you to kiss me, I'm your boyfriend! Don't do me any favors by sticking around, I have other options you know." He yelled. Marlene looked taken aback, and everyone was now staring over at them with alarm. Fabian was staring at Sirius with a look of contempt. Marlene was silent, she couldn't think of anything to say.

She just stood up, bid everyone a goodnight, and practically ran out of the room. Within moments, Fabian had advanced towards Sirius.

"How dare you say that to her! Who do you think you are speaking to her like that. She's the best thing that could ever happen to you and your wasting it!" Fabian yelled. The entire room was silent and staring at Fabian and Sirius in shock. Sirius wasted no time in retorting.

"Your jealous," Sirius yelled, advancing toward Fabian. Fabian was slightly taller than Sirius, but the look on Sirius' face was utterly frightening. "Your jealous that she chose me! That she wants me! Marlene doesn't love you, Fabian. So stop with the puppy dog eyes, because your fucking up my relationship! Face it, you lost." Fabian was quiet for almost fifteen seconds before he lunged at Sirius. Frank jumped up and grabbed him around the waist. Sirius yelled and jumped toward Fabian, but James was behind him in an instant.

"He's not worth it, Pads." James said. Lily, Alice and Dorcas were crowded near the door, and Remus was watching the whole scene with wide eyes.

Alice turned to leave, she had to go find Marlene. Right before she exited however, she looked back towards Sirius and Fabian. "Grow up, the both of you." And she ducked out of the makeshift door and into the hall. Alice imagined she would find Marlene crying in the girls bathroom, or crying in the dormitory. The girls bathroom was closer so she went there first, and the moment she pulled the door open, she could hear the muffled cries from the second stall.

"Marlene?" She asked softly, pushing the door to the stall open. "Oh, Marly... are you alright?"

Marlene was leaning against the wall next to the toilet, he head on the divider, sobbing. "N-no," She choked out. "F-fabian hates me... and I-i'm pushing Si-sirius away." She brought her hand up, and attempted to wipe away the tears with her sleeve. Alice closed to door to the stall and leaned against it.

"Fabian doesn't hate you. He's just... very, uhm, confused." She said, sympathetically. In all truth, Fabian was horrified that Marlene had turned him down. He had confided in Alice not two days before that he had slowly been falling for Marlene since they were fourteen, and had only dated Dori because he was convinced Marlene wasn't interested. He was hurt and confused when he had come to find out he was right.

"Confused? He hates Sirius! He would like nothing more than to see us break up. And Sirius..." She trailed off, not knowing what to say. Alice, however, obviously had an idea.

"Marlene, he was being a real arse tonight. I know he was upset about Fabian, but the comment about his 'other options' was really low." She scoffed slightly, rolling her eyes.

Marlene nodded, she had finally calmed down. She still felt like crying, but wouldn't. She felt foolish for letting Sirius get the best of her. "So, what do you think I should do?"

"Well, first I think the silent treatment for a few days. And then, I think you should sit down with both Sirius and Fabian and talk to them. "

Marlene suddenly looked alarmed. "I can't talk to them both, they can't even be in the same room with one another!"

Alice sighed, pursing her lips and staring at Marlene for a moment. "I didn't mean at the same time! But you need to tell Sirius to stop being a prat, and Fabian to stop moping. Make it clear to Sirius that you want him, and make it clear to Fabian that you still want to be his friend. I know your not used to this kind of attention, Marly, but your weaving a rather tangled web."

Marlene was quiet. Alice was right, Marlene had to talk to both of them... clear the air. She took a deep breathe and stood up straight, alice stepped aside and pulled the stall door open.

"Silent treatment it is, then?" Alice asked, following Marlene out of the bathroom.

"Silent treatment." Marlene said with a nod.

_XX0XX_

A/N: Was that at least slightly juicy? Even a little bit? I hope so. Next chapter, more Sirius/Fabian rivalry, and more discussions on views pertaining to the war... maybe even a little Snivellus action? We'll see. thanks for all the reviews! They are greatly appreciated.

Pix


	15. Silence

Sirius waited for Marlene outside of the Ravenclaw common room for nearly a week.

"Please talk to me, Marlene. I'm sorry I-"

"Do you hear something, Marlene?"

If it wasn't for Alice, Marlene would have given in the day after their argument. She couldn't stand to see Sirius so upset, especially because it was all her fault. But every time she had a moment of weakness, Alice was there to remind her of what he had said...

_"...Don't do me any favors by sticking around, I have other options you know."_

And her blood began to boil. Who in the hell was he to say something like that to her! She hadn't once rubbed it in his face that she could drop him at any moment and go out with Fabian. Other options, what a prat. On the other hand, she still hadn't talked to Fabian. They were tolerant of each other, but every time they sat near one another, there was an air of awkwardness that neither of them were willing to address.

Sirius was in utter agony.

Never in his life had he been this sick over a girl, a stupid girl! Marlene Mckinnon was slowly driving him mad. First, he had to pine over her nearly all summer to get even the slightest bit of attention, and now after one argument he was running around in circles like a dog chasing it's tail. He shouldn't care this much, she was just a girl. He had gone out with Mary Macdonald for nearly three months, and when she gave him the silent treatment, he hadn't cared a lick. But Mary wasn't Marlene...

He never really cared about Mary.

Sirius was pacing outside the Ravenclaw common room for the fifth time that week. She had to come out soon, they had class in less than twenty minutes.

"Sirius!" He turned at the sound of his name to see Remus walking briskly towards him. "Pads, I need to talk to you."

"Moony, if this is another attempt at trying to get me to stop this, your wasting your breathe."

"No- something bigger is going on. Prongs and Lily..."

Sirius' eyes widened slightly. "What did she do to him now?"

"She agreed to go out with him."

"Your joking."

"She did! Come back to the common room, you'll see for yourself."

Sirius glanced towards the door to the Ravenclaw common room desperately, then back to Remus. He had to see this, if Moony was telling the truth, it was a rather momentous day. "Okay, alright..."

And the two of them hurried back towards the Gryffindor common room.

Ten minutes after Sirius left, Marlene and Alice exited the Ravenclaw common room. "Where is he?" Alice asked.

"I don't know, maybe he finally gave up on me." Alice laughed slightly.

"Somehow, I doubt it. Come on, we better hurry or we'll be late to Herbology."

Their morning classes went smoothly, no interruptions.

But there was always lunch.

Alice and Marlene entered the great hall with Dori and Fabian. Alice and Fabian were having a detailed discussion on Auror policy and Dorcas was staring towards the Gryffindor table with a look of shock.

"M-marlene... Look over there."

She looked and what she saw was utterly... unfathomable. James and Lily were sitting next to one another, his arm slung lazily over her shoulders. Never in all the time had she observed and known Lily had she seen her tolerate James' behavior in this way.

"Are they together?" Marlene asked, as the four of them sat down at the Ravenclaw table. She was staring at the Gyffindor table, but looked down when Sirius caught her eye.

"I think so!" Dorcas exclaimed. "Oi, James! You and Lily and item now?" She yelled. He just turned to face her, grinning widely. "Holy crap, they are! I am surprised James hasn't started yelling it from the rooftops."

And then, as if on cue, James cleared his throat loudly and they all turned to see him standing on the table. "Excuse me! I would like to make an announcement." Nearly the entire hall went silent, with the exception of a few muffled whispers and giggles. "I would just like to announce that the beautiful, talented... did I mention beautiful? Lily Evans has agreed to be my girlfriend. I repeat, My girlfriend!" Lily was slowly turning a dark shade of pink, and tugging on the hem of James' pants.

"Would you get down from there! My god-" He chuckled and stepped down. The entire Gryffindor table began to applaud. James stood up and bowed, still laughing.

Alice was grinning when Marlene looked at her. "That was slightly adorable." She said, stating the obvious. Marlene nodded in agreement and looked back at the Gryffindor table to see Remus and Sirius having a heated discussion. About what? She had no idea. Alice had obviously noticed as well, because she leaned in to whisper in Marlene's ear. "Are they arguing?"

"I don't know." Marlene whispered back.

'Think it's about you?"

"Probably." It was Fabian who answered, his mouth full of beef stew. "You both suck at whispering."

"Shutup, Fabian." Alice said, leaning away from Marlene. "What makes you so sure they are talking about Marly?"

"Sirius is no doubt putting together some scheme to get you back." He said, and Marlene couldn't ignore the annoyance in his voice. Alice rolled her eyes and turned back to Marlene.

"He's probably right. You should be on guard, who knows what he's planning. He's Sirius Black--"

"It could be anything." Alice and Marlene said in unison.

Lunch was rather uneventful after that, and Alice and Marlene parted ways. Alice had Arithmancy and Marlene had Transfiguration... with Sirius. She had been dreading this all day, it was hard watching him watch her with those sad puppy eyes. Between Sirius and Fabian, it was like being surrounded by wounded animals.

She entered the classroom, nodding a hello to Professor McGonagall. She was early and the only other person in the classroom was a Hufflepuff girl named Sherry. Marlene dug through her bag and pulled out her transfiguration book, a quill and parchment and proceeded to set up her desk space. She heard them before she saw them, James was going on about Lily to Peter and Remus and Sirius were talking in hushed voices about something or other.

"... Padfoot, I just can't stress this enough. Maybe you should just leave her be for a whi-"

"And let that slimy git Fabian wiggle his way into her good graces? No way."

Marlene inwardly cringed, if anything, Sirius was the one being a slimy git. She had half a mind to go up to him and tell him to take his other options and shove them up his-

"Marlene?"

She turned to see Peter standing behind her. "Yes, Peter?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute... alone?" Marlene looked at him perplexed, but stood up and followed him from the classroom.

"What's the matter?" She asked, crossing her arms and staring up at him.

"I wanted to talk to you about last night. I know we don't really talk, but I have no one else to turn to. Prongs and Padfoot, well... you know how the can be." Marlene stared at him, confused.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Colleen. I really like her! I can't help it if she's a bit of a twit when it comes to the war, I kn-"

"Peter, she called us a bunch a Muggle loving freaks. Maybe Prongs and Padfoot are right." Marlene put a hand on his shoulder, awkwardly. "And, you know, there are other, uh.. fish in the sea." Marlene could hear Mcgonagall rustling around parchment, and beginning class. "Come on, Peter. We'll be late."

He nodded and sighed, following Marlene back into the classroom.

Marlene couldn't pay attention to anything, she was too busy thinking. Sirius was not acting his normal, aloof, carefree self. In all her years observing him and the rest of the Marauders, she had never once seen him actually chase after a girl that was ignoring him. It was so... so... out of character. And lately, her thoughts had kept wandering back to Remus and his supposed Lycanism...

Had Sirius been telling the truth? Her eyes averted the the back of Remus' head, and fear ran up her spine. Had she really been sitting behind a werewolf for almost seven years? She instantly felt guilty for being scared. After all, Remus wouldn't hurt a fly, if she remembered correctly... he was even a vegetarian. She was absentmindedly scratching her quill on her parchment when Mcgonagall called on her.

"Marlene?"

Her head shot up. "Yes, Professor?"

"Can you please tell the class the first principle of _Inanimatus Conjurus?"_

_"_Uh, an object cannot be conjured sheerly by want alone, but with a purpose. If there is no purpose for the object, it may not be conjured."

"That is not completely accurate, but correct nonetheless five points to Ravenclaw. The first and foremo-" Marlene went back to scratching her quill to her parchment, she wasn't in the right mind to learn about conjuring spells. She had been practicing them all month with Alice, and frankly, they really weren't that hard.

After almost an hour of ignoring lectures, the bell rang and Marlene nearly ran out of the room. She had potions next with Remus, Lily, Frank, Fabian and Alice. James and Sirius had defense against the dark arts, thankfully. She entered the cold dungeons, and quickly made her way to Slughorn's classroom. As she entered and took her seat between Fabian and Frank, Remus sent her a smile. She returned it, but knew it looked fake.

"Hey Marly." Said Frank.

"Hey Frank, do you know what were doing today?"

"I believe, Veritaserum. I'm going to need your help, because this stuff confuses me. I just have to take it in order to get into- Oh well, you know."

Marlene smiled, of course she knew. Frank and Alice nearly never shutup about Auror school. "Yes, I know. And I will help you, it's not too hard. You just have to know when to stir it counterclockwise and add the Belladonna after the puffer-fish eyes."

Potions whizzed by without interruption, with the exception of Frank's potion nearly exploding. Marlene and Lily were the only two in the class who successfully completed the Veritaserum, and as a reward each were given the antidote to carry around with them. Also, they were invited to another meeting for the 'Slug Club', which they both politely denied. Professor Slughorn tended to be a little overbearing at such meetings and Neither of the girls were willing to go through another torturous hour.

When she finally made her way back to the Ravenclaw common room with Alice, Marlene noticed that Sirius wasn't there waiting for her like he had been all week. Maybe he had given up.

_XX0XX_

A/N: Did he give up? Maybe. Who knows... you'll have to tune in next week to find out. -Insert scary game show host grin here-. And the whole Remus/Werewolf thing will be relevant soon, promise. I know it's looks like I'm rambling sometimes, but... _most_ of it has a purpose. Hope you liked it! Thanks to all my reviewers, it means a lot.

Pix.


	16. Hurt

Marlene didn't see Sirius outside the common room for two weeks after that.

They were now communicating through sideways glances, and hopeful stares. Transfiguration was becoming nearly unbearable, and lunch was even worse. Sirius had started flirting with girls when he knew Marlene was looking, grinning at Mary Macdonald and playing with Carol Cloet's hair. Alice just glared in his direction and pulled Marlene out of the great hall.

"How dare he. He has no right, Stop looking over there, Marlene! Come on, let's go outside."

Marlene, however, had applied herself completely to her classes. She was now receiving higher marks then she ever had, and her Care of Magical Creatures score had gone up nearly ten points. Marlene stopped going out with Alice, she never left the common room unless to eat or go to class and occasionally the library. She couldn't deal with the whispers, the smiles full of pity. There goes Black's first screw-up of the year. That's what she was, a screw up.

She really should have known better than to get attached to the likes of Sirius Black.

Marlene sat quietly in the library checking over her Defense against the dark arts essay, she didn't look up when someone pulled the chair out and sat across from her.

"So, are you and Sirius officially broken up?"

Marlene looked up, it was Fabian.

"I think so, and please don't sound so excited." She said, staring back down at her essay.

"I think he has a new girlfriend."

Marlene froze. "What?" Her voice was acidic, and Fabian put up his hands in mock surrender.

"I'm not positive, but he has been all over Carol lately. I could be wrong but it looks like he's forgotten all about you." Marlene sneered in Fabian' direction.

"What the- I'm going to kill him. He didn't even break up- Ugh." She couldn't even form sentences, and she could feel herself turning red. Fabian was eyeing her apprehensively. "What?" She said.

"I don't know, you guys are done- and..."

"You really don't waste any time, do you?" She said, annoyed and standing up to gather her things. She was just about to storm off when Fabian grabbed her arm.

"No! Not- I'm just saying... Don't you wanna get back at him." She looked back at him, and nodded yes. "Wouldn't I be outstanding in that capacity?"

Marlene was silent, and staring at him with interest. What he was saying was the truth, nothing would annoy Sirius more than seeing Marlene with Fabian. But could she do that? Could she really be that ruthless? But something occurred to her...

Had Sirius taken her feelings into account?

No.

"Fine," He grinned widely. "But I'm not rushing into this, I'm going to find out if he really is dating her. Have you seen Moony around?"

"Yeah, he's at that table over there." He pointed to a table across the library, and there he was, reading and chewing on the back of his quill. Her stomach tightened. As stupid as she felt, she hadn't really gotten over the whole 'werewolf' thing. She would love not to care, but truthfully, she did. She shook her head and took a step toward him, '_Marlene, you're being stupid! It's Remus, so what if he occasionally turns into a bloodthirsty monster?_' Strangely, she didn't feel any better. But she felt herself moving towards the table where he sat regardless.

"Moony?" His head shot up, and he smiled weakly.

"Hello Marlene, have a seat."

"Uhm, no.. I have to get back to the common room. But I wanted to ask you something, is Sirius really..." She trailed off, and Remus sighed and closed his book.

"Marlene, I'm sorry but yes. He's acting rather juvenile, he really does like you. He's just very confused right now."

"Confused? Well can you tell him something for me? Tell him that I'm glad! That I never needed him anyway and-"

"OUT! Out of my library!" It was Pince, and she was storming towards Marlene with a look of utter hatred. Marlene grabbed her bag and quickly scurried off. Fabian was waiting outside the Library for her.

"Well? Did you get your answer?"

"Yes. And it looks as if you were right, he has forgotten all about me..." She looked down at her feet, gritting her teeth angrily. Fabian put a finger under her chin and lifted her head.

"Cheer up, Kiddo. He's gonna get his, don't worry."

She knew he meant it as a comforting statement but as he threw an arm around her and they walked down the hall, she didn't feel any better. The knot in her stomach would not leave and she had the distinct feeling that it would be there for quite some time.

The moment he saw her leave, Remus packed up everything and hurried from the library. He ran back to the common where he knew Sirius would be snogging with Carol on the couch. It was as if he was attempting to shove all his feelings for Marlene down Carol's throat in hopes he would pass them onto her.

Remus skidded to a halt in front of the portrait hole, and stuttered out the password. "M-monkshood!" It swung open and he clambered through, Sirius was right where he expected.

"Sirius, It's Marlene she..." He was panting slightly, and Sirius pushed Carol aside and stood up.

"Whats wrong? What happened?"

"She knows about you and Carol. I saw her in the Library with Fabian."

"With Fabian?" He said, gritting his teeth slightly. Carol looked annoyed and sent him a sideways glare before storming up to the girls dormitory. Sirius didn't see, he was already out of the portrait whole, making his way towards Ravenclaw tower.

He didn't have to wait long, Alice came out after Dorcas went inside and told her he was waiting there.

"Sirius, Go away. She doesn't want to talk to you!"

"Yes I do." Marlene said from behind Alice, who turned and sent her a warning look.

"Marlene, I don-"

"Alice, I'll be inside in a minute."

She sighed, sent Sirius a glare and stepped back inside. Sirius was pacing angrily in front of Marlene.

"Didn't waste anytime, did you? Either of you!" He yelled. Marlene's jaw dropped in disbelief.

"Your one to talk! Snogging with Carol Cloet in the common room! You didn't even have the decency to break up with me first! This? This right here is why I never accepted your offers. When I finally do, a month later were on the rocks."

Sirius had stopped pacing now, and was just staring at her. "I don't care about Carol."

Marlene scoffed. "Your tongue says otherwise."

In a matter of seconds he had Marlene pinned to the wall in a heated kiss. His kiss wasn't just heated, but filled with desperation... with hunger. Sirius roamed with his hands nearly her entire torso, his mouth moving with hers in a kiss that was so, so raw. Marlene had never felt such intense emotion for another human being in her life, she wanted Sirius. Wanted every inch of him, for the first time in her life... she felt completely out of control. Free even.

But he broke the kiss, walking backwards and wiping his mouth with a sly smile. Leaving Marlene still leaning on the wall, her entire body on fire.

"Yeah? And what does my tongue say about you?"

She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again. Marlene was speechless. What she had just experienced had scared the hell out of her, she wasn't ready to feel like this.

"I can't do this, Sirius." She frowned sadly, she could feel the tears stinging her eyes. Why was she always crying? "I'm so sorry, I-I can't."

She turned and all but ran back into the common room. "Marlene! Marly wait! Don't do th-" But the door had closed, leaving Sirius alone in the hallway. He gritted his teeth and punched the door.

"Dammit!" He yelled, turning and stalking back towards the portrait hole.

Marlene rushed through the common room and ran past both Fabian and Alice up to the dormitory. She slowed while climbing the stairs, and walked slowly to her bed. She sat down on the comforter, staring at the wall, tears silently running down her cheeks. Sirius Black was bad for her, she had to convince herself of that. He was a troublemaker, a playboy... and nice girls like Marlene didn't bother with bad boys like Sirius Black.

Then why did she want him so much? Why did she want Sirius when the boy she had wanted for almost her entire stint at Hogwarts wanted her? It made no sense.

Alice came up shortly after Marlene, sitting down next to her. They sat there in silence for a while, Marlene breathing slowly letting herself cry. Alice finally broke the silence.

"Did you end it then?"

Marlene nodded.

"Well, maybe it's just the wrong time. Maybe later, when were out of school-" Marlene nodded her head 'no'.

"No. We will never be right. Were in the beginning of a war and I have a feeling that were all going to play a key part in it. Maybe not being so attached to Sirius is for the best, there are more important things to worry about, better matches for me..."

"Like Fabian?"

"Yes, like Fabian. Maybe he's the one I was supposed to end up with all along."

Even as the words left her lips, she didn't believe them. Marlene knew she was being melodramatic, she had only been really close with Sirius for a little over five months. Obviously he was just infatuated with something he couldn't have, and once he got it... he became bored.

Marlene sat there for a long time after Alice went back downstairs. She fell asleep long before anyone came back upstairs, her dreams haunted by jets of green light and a woman's high pitched cackle.

_XX0XX_

A/N: OH THE ANGST! I love writing such emo trash, it's fantastic. Don't you agree? Next chapter might be a little happier, haven't decided yet. Thank you for all the reviews! You all pretty much rock, WROCK even. Yeah. Wrock it is.

Pix.


	17. Drunk

November came and went, then December, then January and before Marlene could catch her breathe, February.

The last three months had been like an out of body experience. After her altercation with Sirius he had chosen to obliviate her from his entire existence. James and Lily said hello to her, and Sirius walked by as if she wasn't there. It was killing her. She pretended sometimes that he stared at her when she wasn't looking, but of course it couldn't be true. She had rejected him. Why would he want her? He had a new girlfriend, and she was prettier and more outgoing then Marlene.

Fabian was trying his hardest to take Sirius' place. And even though it was cruel, Marlene was leading him on.

She knew it wasn't right to let him kiss her and think he had a shot, but why not give it a try? After all, it was worth a shot. Anything to get Sirius Black out of her head. She wished she could forget about him like he had forgotten about her. Marlene also wished she could hex him until her wand hand turned numb, but hey...

It was nearly Valentine's day by the time Marlene finally agreed to be Fabian' girlfriend. Alice was not happy.

"Marlene, I need to talk to you about Fabian."

Marlene was leaning over her trunk looking for a clean pair of socks when she looked up to see Alice standing over her, hip cocked. "What about him?"

"Your just using him to get back at Sirius!"

"No, I'm not. I'm giving him the chance he deserves. And please, don't talk about _him_... he was the biggest mistake I ever made."

"Yeah, but you can't forget about him. You even say his name sometimes in your sleep."

"I do not."

"Yeah, you do. Just please, don't hurt Fabian. I don't know if he could take another rejection after Dorcas."

Marlene nodded, and went back to looking for socks. Alice sighed and walked back down to the common room, and once she was out of sight, Marlene abandoned her search for clean socks and stood up. Placing a hand on her forehead, she sighed heavily.

Stupid boys. All they did was complicate things.

Sirius Black sat in the common room with James, Lily and Peter. Carol and Remus had gone off to the library to work on some project for Ancient Runes, leaving the other four to their own devices. It was their last day off before the teachers bombarded them with homework in preparation for their NEWTS.

"Pads, there is something we need to talk to you about."

"Yeah, Sirius." Lily said, and Sirius looked up at both of them.

"What?"

"We do not like Carol at all." Said Peter. James nodded in a agreement, and Lily grimaced.

"She's a bit of cheeky." Said James, nodding.

"And you were so much happier with Marlene." Said Lily and James threw her a nervous look.

Sirius had made it very clear that he did not want to talk about Marlene. He stood up, and looked at them all.

"That is none of your business and if you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you would just but out." And he stormed out of the common room in search of something to drink.

Three hours later, night had fallen over the castle, and Sirius was drunk. In fact, drunk was putting it mildly. He soon found himself in front of the Ravenclaw common room, knocking on the big wooden door.

"Marlene!" He yelled. "Marlene we- we need to talk!"

Marlene was curled up in one of the chairs staring at the ceiling contemplating her fate when she heard her name.

Knock. "Marlene, please come out. I know your in there." It was late, what was he doing out? More importantly, why was he talking like he was six? She stood up and walked slowly towards the door, pulling it open.

"What are you doing here?" She said, staring at him. He was a wreck. His shirt was mostly unbuttoned and half tucked into his trousers, his eyes bloodshot... a bottle in his hand. "Have you been drinking?"

He laughed, and pointed at her. "Yes! Yes I have."

She stared at him disappointed and his face fell, he was all but pouting and a wave of compassion flew over Marlene's face.

"Sirius, Why would you do that? Why would you drink?"

He stared back at her, his eyes drooping. He looked as if he may be on the verge of tears. "Because... Because I'm... I'm worthless." Marlene looked at him crossly, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the room of requirement.

"You know what? Don't even try and give me that self-pity thing!" Marlene pulled him along, he was in a strange state. Nearing tears oe minute, and then giggling the next. She noticed the empty bottle of firewhiskey in his hand and winced. Where had he gotten it?

She stood in front of the blank wall and spoke aloud. "I need a place to put Sirius where he won't get hurt or in trouble."

A door appeared, and she grabbed Sirius arm pulling him towards the door. Once inside, he pulled her around and toward him so there faces were inches apart. "You smell nice..." He said, leaning in to kiss her neck. She shoved him away.

"Sit down on the bed, and no funny stuff. I have no problem kicking you when your down."

He collapsed onto the bed and Marlene onto the chair across from him. Sirius hung his head and began to sniffle. Marlene rolled her eyes, sighing.

"What? What s it?"

"Nothing." He said defiantly, turning away from her.

"Sirius, you look like your about yo cry. What's the matter?"

He turned back to her, his eyes bloodshot and full of self loathing and shame. "I lied to you."

"About what?" She asked, staring at him with interest.

"I told you I would never hurt you, and I did. I didn't mean too, I was just scared."

Marlene was taken aback to say the least by his confession. "It's okay."

"No! It's not okay. I don't like to feel too much for one girl, and I felt _so_ much for you... I was just stupid and scared, and I lost you because of it. I don't even like Carol, she's a hag."

Marlene snorted slightly, and hung her head to hide the laughter rising in her throat. When she looked up, her demeanor changed, for Sirius had actually started to tear up.

"I'm drunk." He said.

"Yeah, you are. Lay down, get some sleep."

"Please, don't leave. I don't want to be alone..."

She sighed, getting up and sitting on the bed next to him. He turned to face her, his eyes so sad she couldn't will herself to look away. His hand rose to her cheek and he leaned forward to kiss her. His breathe smelled of alcohol and chocolate and she wasn't sorry when their lips finally met. He was drunk and sloppy, and she was being reckless and stupid... One thing led to another.

When Marlene woke up the next morning, she didn't want to open here eyes. If she opened her eyes and saw the room of Requirement, than it would have to be real. She whimpered slightly and slowly let her eyelids peel away. Sure enough, she was in the bed next to Sirius, wearing next to nothing. Clothes littered the floor, her shirt, Sirius' trousers, a bra...

Oh crap. Crap crap crap. What had she done?

She sat up, pulling the blanket with her and glancing at the clock. It was only six o'clock and she was thankful, although being late to class was the least of her problems. Sirius slept through Marlene haphazardly pulling on her clothes. She covered him with the blanket and wrote him a note before she ran from the room.

_I hope you won't remember what happened last night. _

_If you do, I don't know what to do._

_-Marlene._

She was back at the Ravenclaw common room in what felt like seconds, whispering the answer to her riddle and almost tripping into the door. She crept past the couch, the embers of what had once been a fire glistening slightly in the stone fireplace. Something stirred on the couch.

"You never came home last night."

Alice.

Shit.

_XX0XX_

A/N: Touchy subject these next few chapters. Nothing explicit, I promise... but talk of (oh no!) VIRGINS. I like being controversial. -Le gasp-  
Did Sirius remember? And if he does, what is he going to do about it? Oh, and as for the heartfelt apology, I figured that it was only something he could say if he was under the influence of alcohol. Hope you liked it!

Pix.


	18. Virgin

Marlene froze, turning to face Alice who was standing and staring at her with her eyebrows raised. "Where were you? I was so worried!"

Marlene glanced from side to side nervously. What was she going to tell her? The truth. This was Alice, she had to tell her the truth.

"I was with Sirius." She whispered, walking forward and collapsing onto a chair.

"What?" She said, sitting back on the couch. "Why?"

"He came here, and he was drunk and crying. So I took him to the room of requirement hoping to sober him up and send him on his way, but one thing led to another and we- well we ended up," She paused, staring down at her hands, which held her jacket and what looked to be a blue piece of cloth, then back up to Alice. "... You know."

"YOU SHAGGED HIM?!" Alice yelled, and Marlene jumped up and covered her mouth.

"Do you want to wake up the whole bloody tower! And yes, I shagged Sirius Black." She whispered hoarsely.

"But your- your a..." Alice trailed off.

"A virgin. Well, _was_ a virgin." Marlene said, collapsing back down and dropping the small pile of cloth onto the floor.

"Did he know?"

"I don't know, I mean, I never told him. Oh god! What am I going to do?" Marlene said, putting her head in her hands. When she looked up, Alice was staring at her with a mix of apprehension and worry.

"What are you going to tell Fabian?"

"Nothing! He doesn't need to know anything about this. It was just one time, it's never going to happen again. As far as Fabian knows, I am still as virginal as I was yesterday."

"Bu-"

"No, Alice. He can't ever know, and I'm never going to to do it again."

Marlene fell back into the chair, blowing her bangs out of her eyes in frustration. Her stomach hurt, and frankly, all she wanted to do was curl up into a little ball and go into a coma.

Sirius awoke almost an hour after Marlene. He was naked and his head was throbbing, the last thing he remembered was peeling off Marlene'...

Then they.

Oh god.

He looked over, expecting to see her petite form curled up on the other side of the bed. But she wasn't there. Sirius sat up slowly, and couldn't find his boxers so just pulled on his pants. Something on the other side of the room caught his eye; a note. He grabbed it and read it over several times. Sighing, he pulled on his shirt and left the room of requirement, hurrying back too the portrait whole.

"You look a right mess." The fat lady said, Sirius grunted in aggravation and uttered the password. It was nearly seven thirty, and there were a few stragglers in the common room. Among them, Remus.

"Pads, what happened to you?" He said, his voice full of worry and disapproval.

"I just- I had a rough night. Is James upstairs?" He asked, Remus nodded, straightening his tie and turning around to talk to Mary Macdonald.

Sirius raced up the steps and burst through the door to the boys dormitory. James was sitting on his bed, chewing absentmindedly on a piece of toast, he nodded his head when Sirius busted in.

"Fancy meeting you here. Where did you go yesterday, we were worried."

"Where is Wormy?"

"In the shower."

"I had sex with Marlene."

James dropped his toast onto his comforter and stared at Sirius in amazement. "Come again?" He said, inclining his head towards Sirius.

"I got drunk, and ended up at the Ravenclaw common room. After that I don't remember anything up until the actually act of peeling off certain layer of Marly' clothes. I guess a shag with Marlene sobered me up right quick."

James was staring at Sirius in a state of shock. "You and Marly actually," He paused and whispered. "_did it_?"

"Prongs, are you eight? I had sex with Marlene, yes. We _did it._"

"So what are you gonna do now? She has a boyfriend, you know."

"And I have a girlfriend."

"Yeah, so what are you going to do?"

"I don't know! Whatever Marlene wants to do, pretend like it never happened, probably."

Sirius walked over to his bed and collapsed onto it. James was quiet and Sirius had only just realized how bad his head hurt, he brought a hand up to his forehead and sighed. James spoke, his tone apprehensive.

"Do you want to pretend like it never happened?"

"No."

They were quiet after that. When Peter came out of the bathroom, he didn't ask any questions, and if he heard their conversation he didn't say anything. Eventually, Sirius and James went down to breakfast and when Sirius stole a glance towards the Ravenclaw table, he noticed Marlene wasn't there.

Marlene and Alice were in the girls dormitory, both fully dressed. Alice was attempting to pull Marlene towards the door with no avail.

"No! Alice I can't go down there, I can't face either of them. Go without me. I will see you in Herbology."

Alice tugged on Marlene's arm again. "I am not letting you sit up here by yourself and wallow in your own misery, no way. Your going to have to face them sooner or later."

"Well not right now." Marlene said defiantly, pulling her arm out of Alice' grasp. "Tell Fabian that I'm sick or something, and that I will see him at Lunch. Okay?"

Alice sighed and nodded. Rolling her eyes, she swept out of the room leaving Marlene alone to think. Think about the night before, think about Sirius, about Fabian. Poor Fabian, she should have never agreed to go out with him. She should have known that something like this would happen, that she couldn't stay away from Sirius long enough to even attempt being Fabian' girlfriend. Curse Sirius Black! Why did he have this power over her, it wasn't fair. He was never going to change, not for her, not for anybody. He would always have that reckless charm that drew woman to him like a moth to the flame. Marlene was just like all the other girls now, swooning over Sirius Black. She sighed heavily.

And the worst part was that she wasn't sorry.

Marlene went through the first half of the day in a haze, and when lunch finally came her mind was so full of anxiety, she almost went back up the dormitory. Luckily, Alice found her before then and dragged her into the great hall. She stared at her feet all the way to the Ravenclaw table, she looked up when she heard Fabian' voice.

"Marly-moo-moo!" He yelled with a laugh and shot up. Grabbing her around the waist, he kissed her on both cheeks. She laughed nervously.

Marly-moo-moo? That's..." She trailed off, sitting next to him. He threw a hand over her she stared down at her plate. The knot in her stomach had double inside; the guilt was eating at her.

"Where did you disappear off too last night? I came back down and you were gone."

She stuttered. "I-i- Uh... I had to go to sleep. I had a headache."

"Oh. Are you sick?"

"Just a little under the weather is all." He smiled slightly and kissed the top of her head. Across the table, Alice frowned.

"You should eat something, Marlene." She said.

"I'm not hungry."

That's how it was for the rest of the day. Fabian treating Marlene with the utter most dignity and respect, Alice sending her frowns and annoyed glances, and Marlene answering shortly and staring at her feet. Transfiguration was horrible. Sirius had tried to throw her a note, but she ignored it and pretended to listen to Mcgonagall lecture. He didn't catch up with her until after dinner.

"Marlene! Wait up." He said, leaving the Marauders and jogging over to her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her into the same dark corridor he had the first night back at school. It seemed like a millennia ago. "We need to talk."

"About what?" She said in a shrill whisper. "There is nothing to talk about. It was an utter mistake, one that I would care not to repeat or ever speak of again."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not good for me! I lose all control when I'm around you, I lost my virginity to you while you were drunk! An-" She stopped when a look of sheer panic flittered across Sirius' features.

"Yo-you were a v-virgin?"

"Yes! Okay. So if we could please just forget that last night ever happened, for Fabian and Carol's sake." She finished. Sirius was staring at her with a look worry.

"Are you okay? I wouldn't have- I didn't know that you-"

"Sirius! Drop it. I'm done, you're done. You were drunk, I was stupid. I'm a bookworm and you're a Marauder, we are not supposed to end up together, okay? Go back to your common room. I will see you in Transfiguration tomorrow."

He suddenly looked angry. "Fine, Marlene. Do what you like, I don't need you anyway."

"Good!" She said, her tone matching his. "Have fun with your other options."

"Have fun with Fabian, _Marly-moo-moo._" He said and turned on his heel, leaving Marlene standing there alone. She yelled slightly in frustration and turned on her heel, running all the way back to the common room. Tripping in through the door, she had never been happier to see Fabian.

She had no choice now. Stripping her mind of Sirius Black was the only option.

_XX0XX_

A/N: Not what you were expecting? Hopefully not, seeing as that's what I'm going for. Almost done with their last year of school! YES! Things will get a little more serious once their all out of school and fighting Voldemort. I'm excited about that. Lots of L/J cuteness... oh yes. So review and tell me what you think!

Pix.


	19. Order

Over the next few months, neither Sirius nor Marlene had much time to think about one another. The professor's were piling on homework, and pop quizzes, and practical exercises in preparation for their N.E.W.TS. Alice was in an utter fluster every time Marlene spoke with her. It was no secret that Alice and Frank were both planning on getting into the Auror academy, and even though Alice had high marks in all her classes, she was still under an amazing amount of stress. Marlene was in a right state herself. She felt if she had to do one more essay on the effect of cheering charms she was going to go mad. Potions and D.A.D.A was no problem but Charms had never been her thing.

James and Sirius were having just a hard a time as Marlene and Alice, but the Marauder doing the worst by far was Peter. He was barely scraping by in nearly all his class but Astronomy and Divination. Remus was doing everything in his power to help all three of them, but he was only one man. There was only so much he could do for his friends, and he took every opportunity to scold them for not paying attention. After all, James was head boy and he had an image to uphold.

Or at least that's what Remus kept telling all of them.

Lily, however, was fairing fine. She seemed to be under little to no stress at all, and even though James accounted this to her being the picture of perfection, Remus told them it was because she paid attention in class instead of writing notes, and in Sirius' case 'Wallowing over the one that got away.'

"She is not the one that got away, and I would appreciate if you would stop bringing her up every damn hour! I am under enough stress already without the mention of the only bird in the school who won't give me the time of day."

Lily chuckled under her breathe, and Sirius glared at her. It had been nearly three months, why couldn't they just leave it be.

"Oh, come on Sirius." Lily said, rolling her eyes. "We are graduating in a month! What are you going to to if Fabian whisks Marlene off to America and you never see her again."

"Well I don't care about them, and neither should you."

Lily shrugged and went back to checking over James' potions essay. He had not spoken to Marlene since their argument_, _and he didn't plan on it anytime soon. She had made her feelings towards him abundantly clear, and if he crawled back to her now he would be doing nothing but setting himself up for heartbreak. And he was the heartbreaker, not Marlene. She had been right, she was just the girl that sat behind him in Transfiguration. Nothing more. Nothing less.

And yet, Sirius couldn't get her out of his head. He still felt jealous every time he saw Fabian touch Marlene, he still thought about her, thought about that night...

Curse her and her womanly charm.

Marlene was with Fabian in the Ravenclaw quidditch team changing room, snogging him as if her life depended on it. She was sick of thinking about _him_ and if she was snogging Fabian, she had no choice but to focus on the task at hand. He didn't seem to mind. She pulled away smiling slightly and leaning back onto the wall.

"Marlene, I don't know what it is about you but..." He paused to register how he was feeling. "Wow."

"I believe you have a practice to be attending, Go get 'em tiger." She said, referring to the Quidditch practice he was currently missing. He kissed her on the cheek with a sly grin, and bounded from the room. Marlene' face fell as soon as he exited. She sighed heavily.

She was getting far too deep into her relationship with Fabian, playing the role of his girlfriend (Quite well, she might add) but something was still wrong. It made no sense, Fabian was everything she ever wanted, he was good for her, her parents loved him, Alice approved... And yet Marlene couldn't help but let her mind wander back to a certain shaggy haired Gryffindor. The forbidden fruit, as Alice had so affectionately deemed him. Fabian suspected nothing and Marlene was thankful. With any luck she could move away from Sirius with Fabian, and never have to stare into those deep grey pools ever again.

She stood up and walked slowly back to the castle, she had promised to meet Dorcas in the library to help her study for potions.

Dorcas looked around the library affectionately. "Can you believe we are leaving in one month?"

Marlene sighed slightly. "I know, I don't know what I'm going to do. It's all so scary... were like grown ups."

Both girls giggled quietly.

"I know what you mean, it's scary. I envy Alice, she knows exactly what she wants from life and she has Frank." Marlene nodded in agreement. She felt a pang of guilt as she thought about the future and Sirius flashed before her eyes. "How are things with Fabian?" She asked politely.

"Good, there good."

"He's a good catch, I should know." She said with a sly smile which turned into a grin when she noticed Remus enter the library. "Hullo Remus."

"Ah, Hello Drocas, Marlene." He said with a nod of his head and a smile. "Mind if I join you?" Dorcas nodded.

"Not at all."

They sat there in silence for nearly three minutes, Dorcas and Remus exchanging nervous glances. Marlene rose from her seat and gathered her books.

"Where are you going?" Dorcas asked.

"I just remembered, Alice is waiting for me in the common room." This was a lie of course, Marlene wasn't stupid, she knew when two people wanted to be alone. Dorcas smiled at her and mouthed 'thank you'. Marlene waved it off and exited the library, stopping when she heard a heated conversation. Peaking her head around the corner, she was Carol and Sirius in the middle of the corridor having an argument.

"... and I can't believe you said _her_ name!" Carol boomed, and Sirius sighed in aggravation.

"It was a honest mistake, now come back over here."

"No, Sirius! I'm sick of this, you are obviously not over Mckinnon. Stop stringing me along and stop being a coward!"

"A coward!" He yelled, advancing towards her. "I am no coward!"

"Yeah? A real man would go and talk to her!" She retorted, her voice low and full of spite. "I'm going back to the common room, do me a favor? Don't follow."

She turned on her heel and left, leaving Sirius fuming in her wake. Marlene ducked around the corner, and sank into the shadows as Sirius stormed past her in the direction of the grounds. Marlene stood there in shock for almost five minutes, it was only when she heard Frank and Alice talking and laughing their way down the corridor that she stepped out of the shadows to greet them.

"Marlene! I thought you were studying?" Alice said, leaning into Frank.

"I was, I left Dorcas and Remus alone in the library." Alice smirked, and Frank waggled his eyebrows. "Maybe I shouldn't have left them alone."

"If they start snogging, Pince is going to be in a right state. She might get filch to hang them by their ankles in the dungeons."

Alice and Frank kept their joking up as Marlene followed them past the library and onto the grounds. Marlene was quiet because her head was reeling, had Sirius really said her name whilst in the throes of passion? Why did she care so much? She shook her head and looked up to fid herself sitting under a dark oak, Fabian and Gideon both bounding over to meet them. Marlene kissed Fabian lightly on the lips when he sat down next to her, but her mind and eyes alike were wandering across the grounds to the James, Peter and Lily down by the lake. She knew where Remus was, but where was Sirius?

Sirius wasn't with them. He had planned on meeting his friends down by the lake, but instead had gotten into that argument with Carol. On his way out to the grounds, Mcgonogall had caught up with him, and insisted he follow her to Dumbledore' office.

"But Professor, I have done nothing wrong. I'm not even fibbing this time!" He pleaded, following her down the corridor.

"Black, you're not in trouble. The headmaster would just like a word with you concerning life after Hogwarts."

Sirius sighed. He was in trouble, he knew this, it just struck him odd that Mcgonogall wasn't lecturing him on the error of his ways.

"Bertie Botts." She said once they had stopped in front of the large gargoyle, Sirius climbed onto the steps with her and in a matter of seconds was standing in front of the large wooden door that led to the headmaster's office, he was surprised to see Dorcas Meadowes and Remus Lupin standing in front of the desk.

Lupin turned around with a small smile. "Where is James?"

"Down by the lake with Lily I suppose." Sirius answered, moving to stand next to his fellow students. Dumbledore was staring at the three of them kindly, he averted his eyes to McGonogall.

"Minerva, would you be so kind as to go fetch the other students we discussed." Minerva nodded and swept from the room, leaving the three students and Dumbledore alone. "I'm sure the two of you are confused as to what all of this is about," He said, referring to Dorcas and Sirius. "I won't keep you waiting long, Just until the others arrive."

"There are three of us, sir." Dorcas said with a smile.

"Yes, there are. I have already spoken to Remus concerning the order, but that's later. Lemon drop?" He said, pulling a small box of candies out from under his desk. All three took one, and Dumbledore smiled kindly once more. "Ah, Candy. Such a simple joy." He said. The large door opened again and an array of students piled in. Sirius recognized nearly all of them; Marlene, Fabian, Gideon, Alice, Frank, James, Lily and Peter. He also spotted Edgar Bones and Benjy Fenwick in the back. Marlene moved to the front, and stood next to Alice and Frank ignoring Sirius' sideways glances.

No one but Remus really knew what was happening, so Dumbledore jumped into an explanation.

"I'm sure you are all aware of the atrocities ripping through the wizarding world. Young Remus here has deemed you all trustworthy, and I thought it best to approach you all at once before you left. You are amongst the most loyal and talented witches and wizards in the school, and I would like you to join me in my underground movement." He paused, and the room was silent. Frank's hand shot up. "Yes, Mr. Longbottom?"

"What exactly do you mean by underground movement, Sir?"

"The order of the phoenix. It is a shame, but the Ministry is hardly doing a good job at containing these attacks. If we do not fight back, they will only continue to get worse." There were a few nods of agreements around the room. "Remus, would you be so kind as the take this parchment around the room." Remus went forward at once, seizing the parchment and the quill from Dumbledore. "You do not have to join me, but if you would like too, sign your name at the bottom. You will see there are already many signatures above Remus Lupins."

Sirius shifted from foot to foot as he signed the parchment under Remus. He would like nothing more than to take down a bunch of elitist scum. At least it would give him something to do, a purpose. Everyone in the room signed the parchment, and when Remus finally handed it back to Dumbledore, it burst into flames.

"You must not mention this meeting to anyone, I will know." He said, eyeing them all. "Thank you all for your time, now please, I believe you have classes to attend."

The students filed out, Sirius ad the rest of the marauders were amongst the last to leave. Sirius was surprised to say the least when he hopped off of the staircase to see Marlene waiting off to the side.

"Sirius?"

"Yes?" He said, his tone sounding a little more affronted than he had meant. James, Remus and Peter just chuckled slightly and went on their way leaving Sirius and Marlene alone.

"I, uh..." She sighed, and whispered. "I still have your underpants." Her cheeks burned slightly.

"And I still have you virginity."

"Your an arse." She said simply. "What do you want me to do with them?"

"I don't know. Give them back, maybe you could give them to Fabian and he could throw them at me at the next Quidditch match."

"Very funny. I'll just burn them."

"Nah, keep 'em. Something to remember me by." He blew a kiss, and turned with a large grin. Marlene sighed angrily and stormed down the corridor past him and towards D.A.D.A. She caught up with Alice outside of the classroom.

"Whats wrong?" Alice asked, sensing Marlene's evident aggravation.

"Sirius Black." Marlene answered, and without a sound, entered the classroom leaving an amused Alice in her wake.

XX0XX

A/N: The ending was rather atrocious, I am aware. I didn't quite now how to wrap that up. So, next chapter will be graduation and hopefully between all the Sirius/Marlene angst, I can throw in some James/Lily cuteness. So, Review and tell me what you think?

Pix.


	20. Graduation

N.E.W.T.S came and went, they were stressful to say the least, but no one Marlene knew did terrible. She suspected everyone would pass whatever they needed to go on with their lives. Marlene, however, was completely confused about what she was going to do when school ended. Would she just go back and live with her parents? What about the Order of the Phoenix? She had signed the paper like the rest of the students in the headmaster's office that day, and she was willing to fight. More than willing, a part of her craved action, craved vengeance for what Voldemort was doing to the world she lived in.

Thoughts of the future weren't the only thing plaguing Marlene's mind. She had kept Sirius' underpants. She didn't know why, but she had sent them out with her laundry, and when they came back she didn't have the heart to light them on fire. Marlene hid them safely from her roommates (Especially Alice) in the bottom of her trunk. She found that paying attention to end of the year notices, and grades was very hard to do with Sirius' underpants weighing down her trunk.

The night before graduation snuck up on them, or so it seemed. Dorcas, Alice, Marlene, Diana and Lauren sat in the dormitory discussing the future. Marlene was, for the most part, quiet.

"...And I think that I got into the school for Dragon Keepers in Romania." She smiled brightly, obviously proud of herself.

"Well, I think you all know what Frank and I are going to do after school. We-" Dorcas cut in.

"Were going to go off to auror school and get married, and have ten thousand babies. Yes, we know Alice. What about you, Marlene?"

Marlene was silent for a moment, glancing around the room nervously. "I don't know." She paused slightly, looking down at her bed covers. "I have no idea what I am going to do after school. Who I'm going to be with, what I'm going to be facing... I just don't know."

Dorcas and Alice exchanged worried glances. Diana and Lauren looked around awkwardly, and Diana stood up. "Lauren, is Amos calling you? I think I hear him."

"I don't hear anything." Diana grabbed Lauren's arm and pulled her from the room. When the door slammed, Dorcas and Alice looked over at Marlene.

"Is this about the order?" Dorcas asked.

"No- Well, yes. I don't know!" Marlene said, aggravated. "I just don't know what I'm going to do. I don't have a job lined up, and the order... What do you think being a part of the order entails?"

"Adventure, danger, maybe even death but- but it's all worth it. We will be protecting people, protecting our families." Alice said, and Marlene admired her nobility. "What else is bothering you? Come on, we're your best friends. You can tell us." She finished, leave it to Alice to dig deeper than she was allowed.

"I-I... Sirius." She said, and Dorcas gasped slightly.

"Do you still love him?" She said, and Marlene laughed. It sounded like a soap opera.

"No, I don't love him. I just- I can't stop thinking about him." She said, and looked down at her comforter to avoid Alice's eye. "Every time I am with Fabian. And now, since he is in the order as well, I am going to have to see him all the time."

The three of them were mostly silent after that. When Diana and Lauren came back up, Marlene told the other girls goodnight and closed her curtains. She listened to them chat and giggle about Frank and Amos and whatever other boys were chasing them at the present time before drifting into an uneasy sleep.

"Marlene. Marlene wake up." Alice said, shaking her friends shoulder.

"Wha..." Marlene said, rolling over to face Alice who was sitting on the edge of her bed. Marlene sat up and looked around. It was barely light outside. "What time is it?" She asked, her voice hoarse from sleep.

"Six thirty. Dorcas is in the washroom, we're going to meet some, uh, friends in the kitchens. Up for it?"

Marlene was tired, but she couldn't miss the last ever trip to the kitchens. She slowly sat up and slipped on her slippers, much to Alice's delight. "Yeah.." She said, standing and walked towards the door. Dorcas didn't come out of the bathroom for nearly five minutes, but when she did, the three girls hurried down the steps, through the common room and towards the hidden door that led to the kitchens. "Who's meeting us?" Marlene said through a yawn.

"Just some, uhm... friends. Mostly people who were in the Headmaster office that day. We're going to talk, and discuss... you know, just hang out before graduation." Marlene stopped.

"Is Sirius going to be there?" Alice bit her lip, ad Dorcas stared at her feet.

"Yes. But, uh, Fabian didn't want to come! He stayed up in the dorm asleep. So it's not like it will be awkward." Alice said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I-I can't, not right now. Don't make me do this." Dorcas and Alice went on either side of Marlene, linking their arms with hers.

"You don't really have a choice." Dorcas said.

Ten minutes later the three girls piled into the kitchens. The house elves looked less than amused by the sudden burst of activity, but served them breakfast nonetheless. Sirius was in the back with the rest of the marauders, and they were having an intense discussion along with Edgar Bones and Benjy Fenwick. Marlene stood off to the side while Alice went over to Frank and Dorcas went to sit next to Remus. She didn't say anything, just listened. James had an arm slung around Lily, and was watching Benjy and Sirius who were having an argument about Ministry policy.

"Ben-"

"Sirius, you're being ignorant! I am not denying that the death eaters have no doubt infiltrated the ministry, but on some level, I am sure the ministry is aware."

"Benjy, the imperius curse! Those damn death eaters are everywhere, and no one has any clue what they're doing, or who they are."

"Except Dumbledore." Dorcas said, thus starting a new discussion concerning the greatness of Dumbledore, and the different things they would face during the order of the phoenix. Marlene said nothing, just stood there awkwardly watching the others let there opinion known. She zoned out for how long she didn't know, and only returned to reality when she felt a small tug on the bottom of her nightgown and looked down to see a tiny house elf.

"Your tea, miss." It said, she nodded a thanks and took the cup, thankful for something to do. Marlene was staring at her feet still listening to the discussion across from her, sipping her tea quietly. She stole a glance towards Alice and Frank who were speaking in hushed voices, and looking excited. Probably something about the Auror academy. She was about to go back to staring at her feet when she glanced back at the marauders and noticed Sirius was staring at her. He smiled awkwardly, and then dove back into the conversation.

Marlene glanced at the clock and noticed it was nearly seven thirty. How had an hour gone by? She walked slowly over to Alice and Frank. "I'm gonna go take a shower. I'll see you at Graduation?" Alice nodded, and Frank bid her goodbye. She swept from the kitchens.

Who did he think he was staring at her? Where did he get off existing in her world? Stupid Wizard playboy. God, she hated him. Marlene hurried up to the girls dormitory, took her shower, threw on some clothes and than walked down to breakfast. It was only eight o'clock but a few early morning stragglers were sitting at their respected tables. She took a seat at the Ravenclaw table, and was absentmindedly chewing on a piece of toast when Alice ran into the great hall, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up.

"Ali- What are you doing? My toast." She said, as Alice dragged her from the Great Hall. She could see that she was smiling, and also... crying? "What happened?" Marlene forced out when they stopped in the middle of the corridor.

"Frank asked me to marry him!" She yelled, scaring a small group of first years on there right.

"Merlin's Pants! What did you say!?" Marlene yelled back, grabbing her friend.

"I said yes!" Frank turned the corner to find his fiancee spinning in a circle and screaming with her best friends.

Marlene sat with Alice and Frank outside on the grounds for the first part of the day, watching them discuss the future. Fabian came over shortly after breakfast, and was delighted to hear the news.

The graduation ceremony was at two o'clock, and Marlene could feel the knot in her stomach growing larger and larger with each passing second. When the bell finally rang signaling that all seventh years were to report to the great hall, Marlene felt almost nauseous. She didn't want to leave school, she didn't want to be an adult! Maybe she could become a teacher and just stay ay Hogwarts. Never have to leave. Never have to get married or be a grown up.

These thoughts continued all the way up to the castle, and all the way into the great hall. In fact they continued all the way through the ceremony. When they called her name, Frank had to nudge her out of her trance to walk up and get her graduation slip.

"... And now, just a few more parting words." Dumbledore said, and Marlene looked up to see Professor Mcgonagall dabbing at her eyes with a napkin. "Your are all talented witches and wizards, and I have no doubt in my mind you will go on to do great things. However, I do pray that all of you will be wise in your choices," Marlene noticed his eyes lingered on a few students at the Slytherin table. "And resist the temptation of those who in the end will only use you. It was a pleasure teaching you all, and I do hope that this is not the last time we will be seeing one another. Good luck." He said, and stepped off the small podium.

The hall erupted into applause.

After the ceremony Marlene found herself sitting on her bed in the girls dormitory. All five girls were crying, and packing, and hugging, they could hardly believe that this was the last time they would be in this room.

"I can't believe this is it. That we did it." Dorcas said, locking her trunk and plopping down on her bed. Alice was smiling a large, watery smile.

"I can't believe we're never going to be sitting in here gossiping ever again." Dorcas and Marlene laughed, Diana and Lauren were too busy crying and saying goodbye to notice. Marlene stood.

"We better get going." She said, sniffing and taking a long hard look around the circular room for the last time. "We're going to miss the train."

The three girls left Diana and Lauren to there sobbing and stumbled down the stairs. An hour later the three girls, along with Fabian, Frank and Benjy Fenwick were piled into a compartment on the Hogwarts express. They busied themselves with stories of first year, games of exploding snap and before Marlene knew it the train had stopped, and she was stepping off the Hogwarts express for the last time. She looked around and saw many familiar faces, most of them crying and laughing. Alice and Frank had wandered off to find Alice's parents and tell them the good news, and Dorcas was standing next to Remus who was checking off first years as they exited the train.

"Marlene..." Fabian said, and she looked up. "I have to go now, Molly is waiting for me over there. I'll talk to you tomorrow alright?" She smiled and he kissed her forehead before running off and leaving Marlene alone. She knew her brothers would be late, they were always late. She was about to walk off the platform and wait for them in kings Cross when someone grabbed her arm. She turned and found herself face to face with Sirius Black.

"Sirius. What is it?"

"I just wanted to say goodbye, at least until the first real meeting with the order."

"Okay than, goodbye." She said, and turned to leave. He pulled her back and leaned down, pressing his lips to her cheek.

"Bye Marlene. See you around." He said, lingering a inch from her face. Marlene wriggled from his grasp, picked up her trunk and walked hurriedly from the platform. She met her brother Caleb in front of Kings Cross and he smiled, and hugged her taking the trunk.

"How does it feel to finally be free?" He asked, loading her trunk into the back of his car. She paused, to register how she felt.

"It feels good." She said. And she was surprised to feel like she wasn't lying.

_XX0XX_

A/N: Okay, it's official. I really suck at writing life at Hogwarts, and I am thankful that it's over. Now the real drama can ensue. Deaths, Love triangles, weddings... it's gonna be great. Thanks for all the reviews! It means alot that you stuck with me through the crappy part of the story, haha. So... next chapter should be up relatively soon. Thanks!


	21. Giving In

A lot can happen in four months.

Marlene had barely noticed, she felt as if October had jumped out and bit her. Since she had left school she had cut her hair, attended no more than thirty order meetings, broken up with Fabian much to Sirius' delight and gotten an apartment and a job in Diagon Alley much to her parents dismay. They didn't want her to move out, or join the order, or cut her hair, or break up with Fabian. But Marlene didn't care. For the first time in her life she was on her own and making it. Barely, but still, making it. Her job was by far her favorite part of her new life. She was a waitress at The Leaky cauldron, and even though the customers were mostly mean, and the pay wasn't great... she liked it. It felt safe. When all the others stores were closing, and everyone around her was dying, she knew that she could walk into the leaky cauldron and everything would be exactly the same as it was the day before.

The order meetings however, were gaining in intensity as well as awkwardness. Fabian and Marlene were on speaking terms, they had broken up mutually and enjoyed each others company enough to stay friends. And ever since their break up, Sirius had taken to whisking her off during or after the meetings to 'talk'. Fabian was less than pleased.

And Sirius had a new girlfriend.

She was this horrible french import who had huge breasts and no personality, and her name was Sophie. Marlene had seen them together snogging in a corner of the leaky cauldron, and for some reason afterwards, had spent an hour tearing up and yelling at herself in the back closet. She just couldn't understand why he felt the need to still bother with her.

The last order meeting before Halloween, Marlene was late as usual.

"I'm sorry guys." She said digging through her bag and as she entered the kitchen, this week the meeting was at the Potter's summer house. Every week it was different, Elphias Dodge' estate, Lily and James' cottage, they had even managed to squeeze everyone into Peter's tiny London flat. "I got off work late, Tom wouldn't let me leave until this old witch was done with her tea- What's the matter?" She said in a rush, looking up to see everyone looking terribly grim.

"Mary Macdonald is dead." Remus said.

Marlene furrowed her brow and looked up, only to realize that Lily was sobbing into James' shoulder and Sirius was staring at his feet. Mary and Lily had always been terribly close and Sirius had dated her for nearly two months. "H-how? When?" Marlene asked, sinking into the seat next to Sirius.

"Last night," Remus answered. "We suspect that the death eaters got her right outside her house. She was Muggle-born after all."

"Any idea who it was?"

"I think I may have a idea." James said. "Mulciber."

Lily looked up and spoke. "He did attack her once at school, it makes sense."

Remus sat down at the table across from Lily and James and began to drill Lily on everything she knew about Mulciber. Marlene glanced over at Sirius to find him staring at her, and his face made her stomach twist. "D-Do you want to..." She trailed off, not sure what he wanted to do. But he nodded and grabbed her hand, standing and pulling her out of the kitchen and down the hall, into what she realized was his bedroom. He had his own flat in London, but she imagined he spent a lot of time at the Potters.

He closed to door behind them and turned to face her, shoving his hands in his pockets and glancing at her sideways. "You cut your hair."

"Yeah. Nice of you too notice."

"I always liked it long."

"How is _Sophie'_?" She asked, her voice holding a fair amount of jealousy. He chuckled slightly.

"Jealous?"

"No." She said, a little too quickly. They stared at each other awkwardly for what felt like hours, and suddenly, Marlene was seventeen again back in Sirius' bedroom questioning him about Regulus. She absentmindedly reached up, playing with the gold locket around her neck. The light caught Sirius' eye.

"Y-You kept it?" He asked, staring at her with a mixture of amazement and pure glee.

"Of course. What was I going to do with it?"

"I don't know, light it on fire like my underpants."

"I still have those too." She said with a smirk and she barely had time to think before Sirius had advanced towards her. He grabbed her around her waist, colliding his lips to hers. She struggled against him for a moment, but eventually gave in. They stumbled backwards and Marlene' legs hit the bed, she fell backwards onto the scarlet comforter with a yelp. "Hold god, What am I doing?" She said, not moving. This was the third time since the first order meeting she had been trapped with Sirius and ended up on her back.

Sirius smirked mischievously, pulling her back up to his chest. "Just relax." He whispered, leaning in to kiss her again.

There was a knock on the door. "Uhm, Padfoot, we could really use you out here."

Peter. Sirius cursed under his breathe, dropping his hands from Marlene's waist and letting his forehead lean against hers. "I guess we should get back to the kitchen."

"Good idea." Marlene said, sighing heavily. She pushed past him and walked over to the door, pulling it open. Peter sent Sirius an apologetic look.

"Was I interrupting something?" He said, stepping away from the doorway.

Marlene uttered 'no' the same time Sirius said 'yes' behind her. Peter was about to apologize again, when all three of them heard a loud crash and yelling coming from the kitchen. Sirius and Marlene pushed past Peter and ran down the hall. James pulled the door to the kitchen open, Lily was behind him, white as a ghost.

"They found us, Pads. There outside." He said.

Marlene gasped, and Sirius dug in his pocket for his wand. "We fight?" He asked.

James nodded. "We fight."

They didn't have to tell Marlene twice, she also dug in her pocket for her wand and ran out onto the grounds with the rest of the order. James wasn't lying, they were everywhere. She could see that many of her friends were already fighting, including Elphias and Remus, and there was a fair amount of spells flying through the air. Sirius and James ran off in the direction of a burly man in a large black cloak, while Lily and Marlene watched from the doorway.

"Well hello there." Someone said from the right, and Lily turned, her eyes burning with fear and fury.

"Bellatrix." She said, advancing forward. Marlene turned to help Lily, and they began to duel. It was two against one, and still, hardly fair. Bellatrix was moving at what seemed like the speed of light.

"Sempti Electu!" Marlene screamed, and a bolt of lightening shot from her wand, hitting Bellatrix in the right shoulder. She was knocked back from the force of the blow, and Lily ran off the help Peter who was doing a very bad job at dueling with a small death eater. The man had picked Peter up and was repeatedly dropping him to the ground. Marlene spun, looking for someone to fight, or someone to help. When she turned, however, she came face to face with the largest man she had ever seen. Her eyes opened wide and she froze. He didn't even reach for his wand, he just picked up his hand and punched her in the face. Sirius must have seen this, because in a matter of seconds, he had given out a battle cry and jumped on the death eaters back, proceeding to try and kill him.

Marlene' hand rose to her face. "What the hell!" She yelled towards him. She suspected he didn't hear, Sirius was still on his back punching him wherever he could manage. Marlene didn't have time to watch, she heard a yelp behind her and turned to see Dorcas dueling with an angry, dirty Bellatrix. Dorcas was managing, but just barely. Marlene, ignoring the pain in her face, ran over to aid her. Bellatrix caught sight of Marlene and let out a cackle that made both girls ears ring.

"Two for the price of one! It's my lucky day!" The minute the words left her mouth, Remus charged her from behind, knocking her to the ground.

"Get inside!" He yelled, and they followed orders, dodging what few death eaters were left and running full speed into the house. Lily and Peter were on the couch, she was patching up a hideous wound on his forehead and looking grim. Two minutes later they were joined by James and Sirius, both of which looked livid. Lily ran to meet James, and hugged him tightly, she wasn't crying, but she looked close to it.

It took Marlene a moment to realize Sirius was behind her, his hands on her waist, leading her to the kitchen. "We have to get out of here." He said, grabbing her hand and pushing the back door open. Her cheek was on fire, and her entire body ached, she was in no mood to argue. She didn't complain when he all but picked her up and put her on the back of the motorcycle, she just waited for him to get on, and when he did buried her face in his shoulder and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.

She must have fallen asleep, because when she woke up, she was in Sirius' flat, dressed in nothing but one of his old t-shirts and a pair of boxers, laying in his bed. Marlene shot up, her hand rising to her forehead. It was deep into the night when she looked out the window, the crescent moon was high in the sky. She let her hand run along the small cut on her cheek as she walked towards the bathroom, flipping the light on and staring in the mirror.

She looked like hell.

Her cheek looked a right mess. It was blue and purple, a tiny cut could be seen red and bloody in the middle of the bruise. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was sticking to her face because of the cold sweat. She splashed her face quickly, brushed her hair and exited the bathroom. Peering around the corner into the living room, the light was on and Sirius was fast asleep on the couch. He had let his hair grow long, a sign that things had not been going well for him lately. As selfish as the thought was, she had the distinct idea it may have something to do with her.

She hadn't noticed that there was a long cut running from his forehead down to the top of his left eye, or that his hands were covered in dirt and what looked to be dried blood, when they had hurried from the kitchen. He looked like he had been through hell, and Marlene didn't think she had ever found him more attractive. She tip toed over to where he was sleeping, leaning down and shaking him lightly.

"Sirius..." She said softly. His eyes fluttered open, and he smiled.

"You're awake." He said, sitting up. He made a face when he saw the bruise on her cheek, gritting his teeth slightly. "I was going to murder that man."

Marlene rolled her eyes slightly. "I could have handled it, he was-"

"That's not the point. He hit you!" He said raising his hand to her face and letting his thumb run over the small bruise, she winced and blushed at the same time. "We should probably get cleaned up."

Ten minutes later, Marlene was sitting on the counter in Sirius kitchen as he cleaned the area around the cut on her face. She had told him his was worse, but he had insisted that she let him take care of her. She winched slightly, and he pulled his hand back. "I'm sorry." He said, she shook her head.

"It's okay. Just put a plaster over it, I'm sure it's fine." He nodded and pulled a small bandage out of the box, placing it gently over the cut. When he let his hands fall to the side, Marlene pulled the aid box beside her. "Now, please let me clean that ghastly cut." He chuckled slightly. She ran her hand along the gash, and he closed his eyes. He didn't wince once as she cleaned the cut, making sure to get all the dirt and nasties out of it. By the time she was done, it looked at least twice as small, and much less menacing. "All done." She said, but he didn't move.

He let his hands move to her waist, even when she was sitting on the counter, he was taller than her. "Marlene..." He breathed. She shook her head.

"Sirius, no." She said firmly, as he leaned forward to kiss her. He didn't stop, and when there lips met, every alarm in Marlene's head went off. She knew there was no one to interrupt this time. They moved from the kitchen to the hallway, Marlene's legs wrapped around Sirius' waist. He shoved her up against the wall outside of his bedroom, moving to kiss her neck. Her entire body was tingling, and with every grope, every kiss it was intensified by a thousand.

In a flurry of movement, Marlene was unbuckling his belt, and Sirius was simultaneously ripping his own shirt off. Marlene hadn't been wearing that much to begin with, and when she felt his warm hands on her cold skin, inching their way up her torso, she froze. "We shouldn't be doing this." She said.

He grinned that mischievous grin she loved so much. "I know." He said, capturing her mouth again. All of Marlene's doubts and inhibitions were lost in that kiss. She didn't protest when he pulled her shirt over her head, or when he eventually carried her off to the bedroom.

Marlene awoke the next afternoon next to Sirius. Unlike the first time, she had no intentions of running away or even moving. When she looked over at him, he was still fast asleep, she didn't blame him... their night had been rather tiring. She snuggled closer to him, it was cold. The window was open and the curtains were blowing in the cool breeze, It was chilly for Halloween. Sirius woke up when Marlene had gotten so impossibly close to him that her fingernails had scratched his chest. "Oh, I'm sorry." She said, when his eyes snapped open with confusion.

He grinned widely and just pulled her even closer to him. "Happy Halloween." He said, kissing the top of her head. He was quiet for a moment contemplating something, but it was Marlene who broke the silence.

"What about Sophie?" She said, looking up at him with a small smirk.

"She went back to France three days ago." He said, and broke into his trademark barking laugh. Marlene sat up and smacked him playfully on the stomach.

"You git! I thought she was our girlfriend!"

Sirius looked rather disgusted by the idea. "Oh no, Marly I would never make a girl like _that_ my girlfriend."

"What do you mean a girl like that?" Marlene asked, tilting her head to the side like a confused puppy.

"She is a french prostitute." He said simply.

Marlene sat there, mouth agape unable to speak. Sirius laughed again, sitting up to grab her around the waist. "Ew! Don't touch me." Marlene said playfully. "Who knows what kind of diseases you got from her! You could have Kennel Cough! Or... Worms!"

They stayed like that for most of the day, until it was inevitably time to attend James and Lily's halloween party. Neither one of them wanted to leave the bed... or get dressed, but there was no other option. Marlene shoved on her pants as Sirius eyed her from the bed. "You know, we don't have to go. Prongs would understand, I could just tell him that I-"

"No! Sirius, no one can know that we do... _this._ And we have to go, Lily would have my neck if I didn't attend her first Halloween party, it's her favorite holiday."

"What are you going to be?"

"You will see." She said with a sly smirk, leaning forward to kiss him one last time before she apparated. When she went to pull away, he grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back into the bed. "Sirius!" She laughed out. "No, I have to go! I'll see you in two hours." She wrangled out of his grasp and apparated before he could grab her again.

Once back in her flat, she immediately stripped down and took a shower. She was covered in dirt and her sweat, and his sweat and part of her felt like if she stayed covered in it, someone would smell it on her and know. Know that she had finally, fully given into him. There was no going back now.

She had gone over the deep end.

_XX0XX_

A:N/ Obnoxiously long chapter. I liked it. ACTION. ROMANCE. Sounds like a bad movie trailer, heh. Next chapter will probably just as fluffy as the end of this one, just bear with me. It will get dark and angsty and horrible soon enough, no worries. Some super James/Lily in the next chap, so look out for that. Thanks for the reviewwwws!


	22. Loss

The halloween party was much more eventful than Marlene had anticipated.

Lily was obviously still extremely upset over the loss of her friend, and was being overly nice to everyone around her. James had dressed up as John Travolta in Saturday night fever, and danced the night away. Alice had to leave early, something about Frank's mother wanting them to stop by. But the most exciting things to happen the entire night was Remus and Dorcas getting drunk and snogging in a corner until four in the morning, and of course, James and Lily announcing they were getting Married. Since it was really no surprise that James and Lily were finally taking the final plunge, nearly everyone focused on the new development in Dorcas and Remus' _relationship_.

After everyone had cleared out, it was only James, Lily, Sirius, Marlene, Peter, Dorcas and Remus who were still on the far side of the room giggling.

"I would be lying if I said I didn't see this coming." Marlene said to Sirius, who was sitting next to her. He was dressed as James Bond, and his costume was impeccable with the exception of the tie which he had loosened. Marlene agreed with Alice when she said he looked rather dashing. Though, his costume hadn't gotten nearly enough attention as Marlene'. She had spent over a week deciding what to wear, and after dropping by Caleb's apartment and finding some dirty magazines in the bathroom it had dawned on her.

Playboy bunny. Sirius nearly fainted when he walked in and saw her standing alone at the punch table.

"Marly, Darling," Sirius said, letting his eyes wander over to Remus and Dorcas. "We all saw it coming. He's fancied Dorcas since second year, and frankly, I'm happy for him."

"Since second year?" Lily said, picking her head up from James shoulder, her cat ears askew. "Wow, I never would have guessed." James burst out laughing.

"Lils, we all knew." He said, and Lily made a fake pout and laid her head back on his shoulder.

Marlene felt Sirius snake an arm around her shoulder, and start absentmindedly playing with her hair. James raised his eyebrows.

"So, uh... Are you two..." He trailed off.

"Are we what?" Sirius said, looking up to meet his friends amused gaze.

"Together?"

"No." Marlene said.

They were relatively silent after that. The only sound was Remus and Dorcas' occasional giggle or burp. When Lily finally fell asleep on James' shoulder, and they looked over to see Dorcas passed out and Remus crying quietly, they felt it was best to leave. Sirius was going to stay, but James promised he would take care of Remus, and told Sirius to take Marlene home. The two walked quietly down the hall and towards the stairs.

"Marlene, why did you say that we weren't together?" Sirius asked casually, following her down the stairs.

"Because, we're not." He stopped, and Marlene sighed heavily and turned around. "Please, can we not do this again. This is getting really cliche, you know. This whole, I love you but we can't be together thing."

"We can be together!"

"No! No, Sirius, we can't. There is a war going on, we just don't... click. Name two reasons why we should be together?"

"Because I like who I am with you, Nobody else can make me even half the person I am when I'm with you. And Because it's there between you and me, You can't deny that."

"Do you want to be tied down, Sirius?" He was quiet. "I understand that you want to be with me, but are you capable? I'm not capable of being with you. Not now. Not during all of this... so, No Sirius, we are not together. I'm just a girl you shag to feel better about the war, to feel better about yourself."

Marlene was right, and she knew it. The worst part was that she didn't mind being that girl. "That's not true, Marlene, but I don't think I am capable of changing your mind."

"No, you're not." She held out her hand, and Sirius took it. "Now let's go back to my flat and pretend we had a good night, alright?"

"Alright." He said with a grin, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her down the stairs. "Did I tell you that you look smashing in that leotard."

"Eh, once or twice." She said with a coy smile.

After Halloween night, Marlene and Sirius barely had time to spend any time together. Marlene was either on assignment for the order, or working, or helping Alice who had recently found out she was with child. It seemed as if she blinked and all of a sudden, it was Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Sirius had showed up at her front door, beaming.

"Well hello stranger." Marlene said when she pulled the door open. "I'm on my way out, Walk with me?" He nodded and Marlene noticed that he was grinning like an idiot. "Okay, what is it?"

"Lily is pregnant."

"Oh my! When did they find out?"

"Nearly a month ago. James told me, Lily doesn't want anyone to find out."

"Well, for obvious reasons. They can't hide it for long, though." Marlene said, walking away from her door- Sirius followed. "Wow, James and Lily are going to have a baby. That's madness, she hated him so much."

"She never hated him. Like James used to say, it's all just a defense mechanism."

"Ah, is that what you called my resistance?"

"What resistance?"

She smacked him playfully, he let out a small chuckle. "I resisted you! I still do."

"Yeah, you try. But no one can resist the charm of Siriu-" He stopped, grabbing Marlene by the hand and pulling her back inside the building. Marlene glanced out the window and saw that Bellatrix Lestrange was hiding in a cloak across the way.

"What the hell is she doing here? Doesn't she know that the ministry is looking for her everywhere!?"

"I don't think she cares, and I would bet my motorcycle that she was here waiting for you." He said through gritted teeth, and Marlene had the feeling that if he were alone, he would charge Bellatrix and duel her right in the middle of Diagon Alley. "We should get out of here."

"It would probably be in our best interest, yes."

He grabbed her hand and with a pop, they were gone. Instantly, the two of them were standing outside of James and Lily's flat in London. Sirius knocked on the door, and within ten seconds James was there, pulling the two of them into the house.

"Get inside. Everyone is here, your late."

Sirius looked at him in utter surprise. "There was a meeting?"

"Yeah, Remus isn't here either. We thought something happened."

"Well something did. Bellatrix knows where Marlene lives, and Remus is o doubt off shagging Dorcas. How's Lily?"

James seemed completely unfazed by both comments. "Irritable. She's angry that I don't want her to go out on the front line and fight death eaters in her... 'condition'."

"Oh! Congratulations." Marlene said and James grinned widely, and looked at Sirius.

"Does Shroud of secrecy mean nothing to you?"

"Not really, no." He said and grinned back. They all went quiet the moment they entered the kitchen. The entire room was quiet. James moved back around the table and took his seat next to Lily, Sirius sat across from Frank and Alice so Marlene followed suit. Dumbledore glanced towards Marlene and than Alice before standing.

"I have just gotten word from Alastor, and I am deeply sorry to report that we have lost Fabian and Gideon."

Alice turned a horrible shade of white and gasped loudly. Marlene had nearly the same reaction, only tears sprang to her eyes immediately. Sirius was the first one to speak. "How?"

"Three death eaters were waiting for them outside their cottage. It took five men to kill them, and they took down three before that." Elphias said.

Marlene couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, it felt as if the world was closing in on her. Nothing would ever be right again, nothing would ever be the same. Fabian was dead. Her friend, her lover, one of the most important people in her life was dead. Gone.

She had to get out.

Marlene stood up, knocking her chair to the ground and ran from the room. Alice didn't bother looking up, for she was sobbing into Frank's shoulder, but Sirius stared after her with a look of complete concern. Lily put a hand on his shoulder. "Follow her!" She said.

Marlene pulled the front door open, and the moment she was in the hallway, collapsed into a fit of tears. She slid down the wall, crying and digging in her bag for a cigarette. She found the carton easily and pulled the lighter out along with one of the white sticks that would no doubt be her demise. She didn't care. She couldn't care. Fabian was dead, and she was entitled to one damn cigarette.

Clicking the lighter, the damn thing wouldn't give. "Dammit!" She yelled, letting the cigarette fall out of her mouth. If anyone saw her, they would no doubt think she had gone mad. Slamming the cigarette back between her lips, she tried the lighter over and over again. By the time Sirius came out of James' house and found her in the hallway, she was sobbing and and continually clicking the lighter.

"Oh, Marly."

"I can't get this damn thing lit." She said through her choking sobs. He leant down and pulled a lighter out of his pocket, lighting the cigarette. She took a deep drag, and coughed her way through the exhale.

"Do you want to go home?"

"I can't. What about Bellatrix?" She said, wiping her mouth and tapping the excess ashes of the cigarette.

"Let's go back to my flat, you can stay there." She nodded as a fresh wave of sobs suddenly overcame her- Sirius looked utterly lost as to what to do.

"I ju-just can't believe he... he..." She trailed off, dropping the cigarette and leaning forward onto her knees.

Sirius watched her silently, laying a hand on her back. When she finally stopped crying, they apparated out of the hallway as quickly as Sirius could manage. Mostly because she needed sleep, but partly because he didn't want Marlene to hear Alice' wails from inside James' apartment.

XX0XX

A/N: I know, the sappiness must be killing all of you, but bear with me. I have lost control of the plot! Sirius and Marlene won't let any action happen, but mark my words, the next chapter I will force in on the two of them. It's time for a duel, and I have some things in mind. -evil laughter- I apologize if this chapter was a bit dragging, I am suffering from a horrible case of writers block. Hope you liked it!


	23. Dorcas

Two weeks.

Sirius hadn't seen Marlene smile in nearly two weeks. She just sat there on the couch, almost in a daze it seemed, staring at the wall. Alice had come over once or twice, and the two had told stories and cried. Alice had thanked him for taking care of her, and than left. Marlene wouldn't eat much, she barely slept, and Sirius was worried that this had broke her. That the death of Fabian had finally killed her spirit once and for all...

Sirius had done his best to stay out of her way, let her grieve, but he couldn't take one more minute of this. It sounded selfish, but he wanted Marlene back, it was killing him watching her suffer and let go of her humanity.

"Marlene, you have to get up." Sirius said, watching Marlene from the doorway.

"I am up." She said, taking a drag off her cigarette and running a hand through her hair. Sirius strode over to her, pulling the cigarette out of her hand and smashing it in an ashtray which housed many more, on the side table.

"And enough cigarettes. Come on, get off the couch, shower... we have a meeting to go to."

"Why?" She said scornfully, staring up at him. "So they can tell us more of our friends are dead!"

"I know it hurts, Marlene, I understand-"

"No! You don't understand. How could you possibly understand?! It wasn't James that died! It wasn't Peter! How could you possibly understand what it's like to lose someone so close to you that they were nearly your family for your entire adolescence! Don't give me that shit, that you understand, because you don't."

"I do understand, Marlene." He said through gritted teeth, grabbing her arm and pulling her up and towards the bathroom. "Regulus was found dead two days ago."

Marlene softened in his arms immediately, her features contorting with regret and compassion. "Oh, I am so sorry." She said, biting her lip.

"It's fine. I don't really know how your feeling, Regulus was a brother I hated... if it had been James..." Sirius couldn't finish the sentence.

Marlene let a knowing smile grace her features, and Sirius felt his heart jolt in his chest. A smile. The was a start. "I guess I should shower. I probably smell like old milk."

"Yeah, a bit." Sirius said, and she slapped him playfully. "Do you want tea?"

"Yeah, that would be nice." She said, and stepped into the bathroom, closing the door.

Marlene showered quickly, and exited the bathroom, running a brush through her long blonde hair. Sirius was sitting on the couch, flipping absentmindedly through 'The Quibbler'. "You read that trash?" Marlene asked, incredulously. Sirius nearly jumped out of his skin, she laughed loudly.

"You scared me." He said, laughing slightly. Marlene was about to speak when an owl flew through the living room, dropping a small note into Sirius' lap. He read over it quickly, "Get dressed, Marlene." He said, not looking up. She ran to her bag and threw on a pair of jeans. She was wearing one of Sirius old school shirts, but it would have to do, the urgency in Sirius' voice said that she didn't have time to be picky about her clothing choices.

"What happened?"

"They found Remus' cottage. Voldemort showed up, and Dorcas was there..."

"Oh no."

"We have to go." He said, and they apparated to the garage where Sirius kept his motorcycle. Marlene didn't have time to ask why they wouldn't just apparate there, she just slid onto the back behind him, and they were off. He was quiet the entire ride, and Marlene was nearly cringing with anticipation. When they finally landed behind the cottage, Sirius threw Marlene off the motorcycle as a spell whizzed by them, narrowly missing Sirius.

Marlene didn't have time to think, she just grabbed her wand, and ran in the direction of the nearest duel. It was Arthur Weasley and Frank dueling Antonin Dolohov and another huge Death Eater Marlene didn't recognize. Antonin let out a hideous laugh as Marlene came into sight, yelling in her direction.

"Miss McKinnon, I believe Mr. Prewett mentioned you in his final minutes. Hopefully you will be joining him soon."

Marlene's blood boiled, and she let out a battle cry, charging him. Frank sent a nasty spell in his direction and Arthur caught her elbow, "Marlene, it's murder."

"He killed Fabian!" She yelled, shaking him off and growling in Antonin' direction.

"Sirius no!" Someone screamed, and Marlene turned around immediately. It was Lily who had yelled, and James was still battling Lucius Malofoy. Sirius was lying on the ground, motionless, his face too pale for Marlene' liking. Marlene ran to Lily who looked as if she were on the verge of tears, Marlene pulled her aside and into a small shed.

"Lily, stay in here. It will all be over soon, your pregnant, and James would never forg-"

"Go get Sirius, he could be dead! He jumped in front of a spell meant for James, he's not moving... hes not..." She trailed off, breaking into tears. It was horrible, and Marlene couldn't even imagine dealing with all of this, and pregnancy hormones.

"Just stay here!" Marlene yelled, running from the shed, between Egar bones and Rosier, past Frank and Arthur, Sirius was lying not five feet away still too pale- A scream. The most horrible scream Marlene had ever heard came from within the cottage, everyone froze, and then it was over.

All of the death eaters were gone.

Marlene ran too Sirius just as Remus stumbled from the cottage and James ran too meet him. Marlene leant down next to Sirius, slapping his face. "You arrogant bastard, wake up. If you die on me, I will never forgive you." She said, tears welling in her eyes... he still wasn't moving...

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see James. "Marlene, is he..."

"I don't know." She said truthfully. Edgar Bones, seemig only to just recently grasp the concept, ran over to Sirius, kneeling beside him.

"Did anyone see what hit him?"

"I think he may have bee stunned, or maybe..."

"No," Edgar said. "He's still breathing, but this was no ordinary stun. Who sent it?"

"Lucius Malfoy."

"Oh." Edgar said, and with a flick of his wand, conjured a gurney. "I'm going to take him to my mother, she's a healer. All of you know where the house is, right?" Marlene and James both nodded. Edgar vanished along with the gurney, leaving Marlene and James standing in silence. It was Marlene who spoke first.

"What happened?" Marlene said, turning and motioning towards Remus. He was kneeling in the grass with his head in his hands next to Lily who was also crying, and comforting him.

"Voldemort killed Dorcas." Marlene gasped slightly. "Dumbledore had sent her on an errand earlier to day, and she stopped by to see Remus and within minutes... the death eaters swarmed the place. Voldemort grabbed Dorcas and pulled her into the bedroom. Remus couldn't get in to save her, he feels responsible." He said. "And, as far as Sirius goes... that spell was meant for me. He jumped in front of it, and if he ever wakes up, I am going to kill him. Stupid loyal bastard." Marlene smiled slightly and James chuckled. "Marlene, are you alright?" he asked.

"No. I don't think I will be for a while, but I'll deal with it." She said and James smiled again.

"Thank you for getting Lily out of harms way. I told her to go into that shed long before you dragged her there."

"She's a stubborn one, that Lily. Let's just hope the kid isn't as fiery."

"It's a boy." James said and broke into a guilty grin. Marlene smiled and let her hand cover her mouth.

"Oh, congratulations." She said, holding out her arms. She hugged James and he hugged her back, and Marlene suddenly felt better. This child was a clean slate, a light at the end of the tunnel. Someone cleared their throat, and James and Marlene broke out of their hug to turn and face Lily.

"I think Remus could use a little help, James. He is a mess." James nodded, and smiled towards Marlene before walking away.

"Marlene," She turned to face Lily. "Thank you for getting me out of harms way. I was being a bit hysterical."

"No problem, Lils. It happens to the best of us."

"Would you owl me when you check on Sirius, I want to be there when he wakes up so I can slap him for giving us all such a scare."

Marlene smiled. "I'll make sure of it." Lily smiled and turned to walk back towards her Fiance. Marlene smoothed down her shirt, and began walking to the back of the cottage, towards Sirius' flying motorcycle. She had people to see, places to go. She had to check on Sirius, check on Alice, stop by Dumbledore' and talk to him about Dolohov... but first, she had to figure out how to get the flying motorcycle back to Sirius' garage. She stood over it, running a hand along the chrome pipe sticking out the back.

Marlene didn't even know how to start the thing.

"I-I could take it back..." A small voice said from behind. Marlene turned to see Peter standing with his hands in his pockets, gazing at her sheepishly.

"Could you? Can you fly it?"

"Sirius showed me how once, the summer we first met you. He would want you next to him, you should go to Edgar's." Marlene smiled and reached into her pocket for the keys, dropping them in Peter's hand.

"Thanks Pete." She said with a smile. He blushed furiously and hopped on the motorcycle.

"D-Don't mention It." He stuttered out. With a pop Marlene was gone, and within seconds, standing in front of the Bones residence. Walking up the pathway, she knocked on the front door, and waited. Edgar pulled the door open, and ushered Marlene inside.

"I think he's going to be alright. He's asleep, but he keeps talking about... something. I gave him some ginger root, and my mother has been taking care of him. You should sit with him, he'll probably want you to be there when he wakes up." His face changed, contorting into a grave stare Marlene had never seen on Edgar before. "I-Is Dorcas dead?" He said in a low voice.

"Yes..." Marlene said, staring at him intently. Something in his voice told her he was a lot more upset by this then he should have been.

"Oh, well..." He sad, his voice cracking slightly. "Sirius is in that room," He said, pointing to the room farthest from the hall and looking away from Marlene. "Just call if you need anything." And he swept from the foyer and up the stairs, some time later, Marlene heard a door slam.

She walked slowly toward the room were Sirius slept, dreading the look of his too pale face, his unmoving body... she was going to kill him when he pulled through. Knocking slightly, she heard slight movement and a beautiful older woman pulled the door open. It was Edgar's mother, no doubt, and Marlene could see Edgar's wife standing next to the bed with her thumb between her teeth.

"Ah, Miss Mckinnon, is it? Have a seat, we will leave you alone with him in just a minute."

"Thank you so much for this." Marlene said, grabbing the woman's hand and sending her an appreciative smile and squeezing her hand slightly.

"Speak nothing of it, Dear. Edgar has always spoke so highly of you and Mr. Black."

Edgar's wife sent her a strange glance as she took Sirius' pulse and said something to Mrs. Bones. Marlene stared at Sirius intently until Mrs. Bones left and she was alone with Edgar's wife. Sirius' hair was matted to his face, and he was tossing and turning in his sleep, he obviously had a fever, which was never good.

"Marlene," Her head shot up and she saw Edgar's wife standing in the doorway. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course." Marlene said, not letting the strangeness of the situation shine through her voice. What could Edgar's wife possibly want with her?

"Did you know the girl who died very well?"

"Dorcas?" She nodded. "Yes, we were very close during school. Why?"

"Did you ever see Edgar acting strange around her? Staying out late... with her..."

Marlene was silent. And then, like a puzzle piece, everything clicked together. "Are you asking me if Edgar ever cheated on you with Dorcas?" She spat out, quickly.

The woman kneeled down beside Marlene. "I have reason to believe he loved her. There are letters and things, and-"

"Oh no. Stop right there, I don't know anything about this. Dorcas was one of my good friends but her... _relations_ were none of my business." Edgar's wife looked sorrowful. "But, speaking on Edgar's character, I don't think he is the type."

The woman nodded and stood, smoothing down her dress. "Well, I am very sorry to have bothered you."

"You didn't bother me. I am sorry I didn't have anything to tell you."

She smiled slightly and left the room. Marlene let out a small chuckle and glanced back at the bed, Sirius was laying still, not breathing...

"Sirius!" Marlene yelled slightly, getting up from her seat and running to his bedside. "Sirius, what- wake up." She said, he didn't move.

Was he- No he couldn't be- was this it?

His pale face broke into a large grin and he grabbed her arm. She jumped slightly, rolling her eyes as he laughed. "Oh Marly, you should have seen your face."

That's it. He was dead. Marlene was going to kill him.

_XX0XX_

A/N: Action? YES. Finally I got to squeeze some fighting in there... next chapter? Probably another death. Maybe a wedding... I'm trying to squeeze a few things in before Harry's birth so bear with me. Thanks for all the reviews! I try to reply, but I am a procrastinator and I am trying to transfer schools and... Okay, you probably don't want to hear all about my problems. Bottom Line: If I don't reply to your review, don't feel bad, I appreciate all of them greatly I am just incredibly lazy.


	24. Alright

Marlene would have smacked Sirius if he wasn't so pale. So she opted for stepping back from the bed and staring down at him sternly.

"Sirius," She yelled and stopped. Lowering her voice, she spoke through gritted teeth. "Sirius Black. Who in the hell do you think you are jumping in front of stunning spells! Are you that desperate for glory." She looked down at her feet, angrily wiping away the tears that were stinging her eyes.

"Ah, Marly... come here." He said, sitting up and opening his arms. Marlene let a small sob rake through her body, moving forward and hugging him tightly.

"J-Just please, never do that again. I thought you were d-dead." She said through her tears. Sirius patted her hair slightly and sighed.

"I didn't mean to scare you, I just..."

"Just what?" Marlene said, wiping her face and pulling away from him.

"James is going to be a father! He can't afford to die." He said, staring her in the face.

"And you can?" She yelled back. He was silent for a moment, staring down at the bed sheets and avoiding her eyes

"I didn't think."

"No! You didn't. Now, if you'll excuse me I am going tell James that his best friend isn't dead."

Marlene stood up from the bed and turned to leave. "Marlene?"

"What?" She said, turning around to face him.

"Is Dorcas dead?"

"Yes." She said, and left the room. Moving into the hallway quietly, she closed her eyes and focused on the happiest moment she could think of, "Expecto Patronum!" A large, silvery cat flew from her wand and galloped off through the wall. Within ten minutes, James apparated into Edgar's living room.

"Is the old git alright?" He asked hurriedly.

"Yeah, he's in the other room. Second door on the left." James nodded a thanks and took off down hallway, leaving Marlene alone. She was only beginning to register how tired she was, and how much Dorcas' death had really stung her. Another one of her friends were dead. It seemed as if they were dropping like flies and she couldn't help but wonder who was going to be next? She sighed quietly and walked forward, pushing her way into the living room. Edgar's mother was sitting quietly in front of the fire, hands folded on her lap, staring into the flames. "Oh, I'm sorry." Marlene said, turning to leave.

"It's alright, dear. Have a seat." Said the woman, glancing in Marlene's direction with a small smile. Marlene did as she was told and took the seat across from the older woman. They sat in silence for what felt like hours, Marlene glancing awkwardly in Mrs. Bones direction, and Mrs. Bones staring into the fire. "Losing Fabian and Gideon was such a shame..." Said the Mrs. Bones, suddenly. Marlene was quiet, not wanting to stir up the horrible grief she had felt for her friend once again.

After the two of them had broken off their relationship, Fabian had dove into work at the ministry and enveloped himself in business for the order. The two of them had gotten together once or twice, but not nearly enough as they should have. Marlene regretted not returning his letters now. She was almost positive that that is why his death had hurt the worst, why his death had nearly broke her very existence. Because she didn't appreciate him nearly enough when he was alive. She knew it was selfish, but she didn't realize how much she needed him until he was gone. Part of her resented him for going off and getting himself killed but most of her hated herself for not bothering with him after Sirius had began showing her the slightest bit of attention.

"Yes, shame." She managed to choke out, sometime later.

Mrs. Bones looked in her direction. "Edgar told me you and Fabian were terribly close during school." Marlene nodded. "And you knew the pretty Meadowes girl, yes?" Marlene nodded once again. "Such a shame. This war is taking too many good wizards and witches. Everyday it gets worse and the Prophet reports more deaths. I work at St. Mungo's as I am sure you know- so many useless injuries and deaths. I worry about Edgar every time he leaves the house, I worry about all of you. Tell me, are you afraid?" She stared at Marlene expectantly.

"Uh," Marlene said. "Yes, very much so. Every day is a battle, I am running out of money... and regretting not taking that job at the ministry that I was offered."

"Where do you work, dear?"

"The leaky cauldron. I figured that being a waitress would put less stress on my already overworked state of mind. I wanted to devote all of my time to the order..." She chuckled bitterly. "Turns out I would rather shag young Mister Black." She chuckled again, but stopped when she realized what she had just said. "That was probably a little too much information."

Mrs. Bones laughed heartily. "I don't blame you, he is rather strapping." Marlene let out a small, strangled laugh at that statement, but swallowed it as a large crash was heard from the back room. Marlene stood up immediately, motioning to Mrs. Bones to stay.

"Just stay here, I'll go check it out."

"Call for Edgar if it's..."

"I will." She said, exiting the room. Part of her doubted that it was anything more sinister that Sirius and James horsing around in the makeshift medical room, but in this day and age it was rather risky to take chances. She paused outside the door and could heard faint whispering coming from within. She held her wand at attention and turned the doorknob slowly, a small creak emitting from the hinge made her grit her teeth.

"... Pads, that is insane! He would never."

"I am not accusing Moony of anything, I'm just throwing it out there. You never know who is working for the other side these days. After all-" he stopped, clearing his throat when he caught sight of Marlene. She stopped and stood awkwardly in the doorway.

"I heard a bang and thought something was wrong..."

"Oh, No. That was just Peter apparating to tell me that my motorbike was alright." Sirius said. Marlene had to admit he looked slightly better. He was leaning against the wall and some of the color had returned to his face and chest. He was no longer sweating, though he still didn't look like he should be out of bed. Marlene would have said something if James didn't speak first.

"I have to get back to Lily and tell her you are alright. Make sure you tell Marlene all about the wedding, We will talk about your _theory_ tomorrow over lunch, yes? Alright. See you then, feel better. Make sure to sleep or I will personally send Lily over to put you to bed."

"Kinky." Sirius said, and James slapped him on the arm playfully.

"Good night Marlene. Good luck with this goon." He said with a signature grin and dissaparated.

Sirius stared at Marlene sideways through his hair in that way he knew made Marlene weak at the knees. "Are you still cross with me?"

"Yes. That was a very cruel joke you played, but I have learned not to expect much more from you."

"You and I both know you can't stay mad at me for long."

"You're foolish for thinking such nonsense."

"A fool to the end, Marly. I couldn't live with myself any other way."

Damn him. He couldn't not make her smile, even if he was a hopeless dunce. "Are James and Lily finally tying the knot, then?"

"Yeah, next week. Small ceremony, mostly people from the order."

"Naturally." Marlene said. "I have to go check on Alice, tell her about Dorcas and the like. Promise me you will get some sleep?"

"Cross my heart and hope to... Maybe I should just skip that last bit."

"Probably be for the best." She said with a smirk as she walked over and kissed his cheek. "Be good."

"Be safe."

"I'll try." And she was gone with a pop.

Alice had heard the news, and she and Marlene wasted no time reminiscing about the friends they had lost. Marlene was choking on her tea, laughing at Alice who was ranting on about Fabian and Gideon when they were younger.

"Do you remember our first year when they declared every Monday 'Hug a slytherin' day? The look on Lucius' face when Fabian nearly tackled him to the ground in a bear hug was memorable, to say the least."

"Remember the first time they drank firewhiskey together, and we found the both of them in your treehouse acting out scenes from The Tale of The beedle and the bard?"

"My mother was not happy. I do believe it was Molly who eventually coaxed them down, and then promptly taught them a lesson by making them drink so much firewhiskey, Fabian almost came down with sweating sickness." Marlene laughed slightly, taking another sip of her tea, and sighing heavily. She looked up at Alice to see tears had sprung in her eyes. She sniffed and chuckled slightly, wiping them away hastily and reaching out to grab her friends hand. "Marly, promise me you won't run off and get yourself killed, Won't you?"

"Alice, Don't be silly..."

"I'm not!" She said firmly. "I just don't want this baby to grow up never knowing his Godmother."

Marlene smiled slightly. "Really?"

"Of course! I mean, now that Dorcas isn't around..." Alice said jokingly, tears stinging her eyes once again at the mention of their friend. "Marlene, I just don't know if I could handle losing you too."

"You won't, I'm here for the long run. Plus, my brothers would kill me if I died." She said with a small smile. "You worry too much, Alice."

"Speak of your brothers, How are Louis and the baby?"

"Last time I spoke to them, good. I'm actually going over to my Ma's house tomorrow if you want to come, I have been to busy lately and I haven't been seeing my family nearly as much as I should. They would love to see you."

"I would love to see them! I miss your brothers- they were always so much fun."

"Really? I never saw that side of them. I only saw the side that made them compelled to throw frogs and other slimy creatures in my hair." Marlene said with a slight chuckle, sipping her tea once more before standing up. "I better get going. I need to get some things from my apartment- I'll see you tomorrow about seven?" Alice nodded.

"Yeah, Just come by and we can leave from here."

"Alright dear. Bye." She said, walking over and kissing her friend on the cheek. "Take care of the little one, and don't be so hard on Frank."

Fifteen minutes later, Marlene was rummaging around her apartment looking for pictures. Pictures of Dorcas and Fabian, Gideon, Sirius... pictures of a happier time. Whens she finally found them, part of her wished she hadn't. Every time she glanced at Gideon's laughing face, or Dorcas' bushy brown hair her heart fell deep into her stomach. Tilting her head to the side as she glanced down at the box, she saw something she knew had not been there before. A large purple envelope was sticking out behind a picture of James and Sirius.

It said 'To Miss Mckinnon' on it in large letters. Her hands shook for some reason as she picked the envelope up and steadily ripped it open.

_XX0XX_

A/N: What's in the letter? Find out in the next chapter.

Another author and I (DigiqueenTMIM, and if you haven't read her stuff, you should) are starting this cool project called Fiveawesomeauthors. We only have three people, so if you would like to be apart of it, message me and I'll see what I can do! Thanks for reading. AND thanks to Lyin' for reviewing Every Single Chapter. IT kind of made my life.


	25. Love

The letter felt heavy in her hands, whatever it was and wherever it had come from, it was definitely not a good thing. Someone had been in her flat, had been going through her personal things. She began to feel angry as she stared down at the letter. Someone had invaded her privacy with their stupid, scripty handwriting. Taking a deep breathe, she turned the thick parchment over in her hands and began to pry the letter open. She pulled out a folded piece of parchment and read aloud what it said.

"You can't hide forever."

Dropping the letter to the ground, she stared at the letters. They were written in that same, beautiful script. Suddenly, Marlene couldn't breathe. The walls were closing in and it felt as if the whole room was filled with smoke. Was it? Was that purplish smoke actually leaking out of the envelope? Everything was fading. A door opened. The only thing she heard before blacking out was a faint meow.

Some time later, Marlene awoke to the smell of chocolate and hushed voices. Her head was killing her, and when she ran a hand along her face, she could feel that she had been sweating in her sleep.

"James! She's awake."

Marlene was still very confused. Where was she? What had happened to the letter, and where had all the smoke come from. She tried to sit up, but felt a hand on her chest. "Stay back, Marlene, you are very sick."

"What the hell happened to me?" She said, her voice weak but still demanding.

"You were poisoned." The man said. She opened her eyes a bit wider and realized that it was Remus sitting in the chair next to her bed. Bringing her hand up to meet her eyes, Marlene sighed heavily.

"Did you find the letter?"

"What letter?"

Marlene sat up angrily, only to be met with a horrible dizzying sensation. Remus laid a hand on her chest, pushing her back down. "The letter that poisoned me! It said," She put up her hands to quote the air. "You can't hide forever." Remus stared at her with a mix of compassion and fear.

"What do you think that means?" He asked.

"I don't know. I'm next on the list. Who the hell knows, if it was the death eaters, we all know they like to talk with damn riddles."

The two sat in silence for a moment, each contemplating what to do next. Remus shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked at his feet, avoiding Marlene's eye.

"What?"

"I don't think you should tell Sirius. Wait," He said quickly, when she opened her mouth to speak. "He has enough on his plate right now, he doesn't need to know that you're in grave danger. He won't be able to focus on anything else. You know how he feels about revenge."

Marlene sighed, sinking into the bed. He was right and she knew it. But for some reason, she felt like she needed to tell Sirius, like he was the only one who could protect her. "I guess you're right." She changed the subject, feeling no further need to discuss Sirius. "What time is it?"

"Almost noon, I think." Her eyelids felt heavy. She opened her mouth to respond but nothing came out. "Marlene? Stay awake. Lily!"

She observed the red head enter the room and kneel beside her bead, laying a hand on her head Lily sighed. "Remus, her fever is rising again. Do you think you could call Molly?"

She didn't see if Remus nodded or not, because black consumed her once again.

She awoke hours later in a different room, she could hear yelling outside the door. Her ears perked up slightly, trying to decipher the voices.

"Is Marlene in there? Remus, let me through or so help me god! How could you have not called me, what the hell happened to her..."

"We, uh, we don't know."

"Where did you find her?"

"At her old place on Diagon Alley."

"Who found her?"

"I did."

"And yet you know nothing." He said, and she saw the light spill into the room from the open door, and squinted her eyes against it. She felt much better, still very weak, but not on the edge of death like she had. "Marlene, are you awake?"

"Yes." She said slowly, sitting up.

"What happened?" He asked her, and she peered past him into Remus' wide eyes. He was telling her not to tell him, but she just couldn't do that. She must have stared a second to long because Sirius looked behind him into Remus' face. "What the hell is going on here, what are you two hiding from me?"

"I was poisoned, Sirius. And I think I know who did it."

She heard Remus stomp away down the hall, and she saw the fury rise in Sirius' eyes. "Who?" He said, his voice low and acidic and his face taking on that gaunt vampiric look it did when his friends were threatened.

"Travers. You know, the small mousy one that is always following Bellatrix."

"I'll kill him, Marlene. I'll find him, and I will kill him, you have my word."

"I know I do, but please, do not focus on this. Everything will fall apart if all we focus on is revenge, and I can't have us falling apart." She said, smiling and placing a hand on Sirius cheek. His expression relaxed and she was thankful for it.

"I guess I should just be satisfied with the fact that you are alright." He wasn't speaking the truth, and they both knew it, but Marlene figured it was the best she was going to get.

"Where the hell am I?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Albus' summer house. Lily said it was the best and closest option. Molly came as soon as she could, and her and Lily brewed an antidote. Thank god. But I have a question."

She nodded.

"Why did you go back to your house? You knew it wasn't safe."

"I had to get something." She avoided his eye at this point, embarrassed by her slip up.

"What?" He said.

"Just some pictures and things. Dorcas dying really.. well... it just..." Oh No. She could feel the slight stinging of tears beginning to well up, the ball rising in her throat.

"Oh, Marly, Come here." He held out his arm and she leaned into it, sniffing loudly. "Do you want to go home?" She nodded. "Okay."

She pushed the blanket back, standing up and slipping a pair of slippers that lay next to the bed on her cold, bare feet.

She was weak, and cold, and completely annoyed by Sirius' stupid motorcycle by the time they reached His flat. He attempted to pick her up, but she shoved him off and walked towards the stairs and up to the door. Leaning on the wall beside it, she waited for him to open the door. "You know, Marlene, we should really stop scaring each other with these near death experiences."

"I do agree. However, with the current circumstances, I really don't see that coming true." Sirius chuckled slightly, and she reluctantly swooned inside.

He successfully unlocked the door and walked in, Marlene in tail. Sirius held up his wand, and pointed it at a few candles on the other side, which illuminated. Nothing had changed since she left, two days ago. With the exception of a few dirty dishes and some laundry that had built it. She took a deep breath and collapsed on the couch. She was safe her, and she knew that for a fact.

"Marlene?"

"What?" She said softly, staring up in Sirius face which had suddenly become very dark.

"What do you remember about your attack?"

"It wasn't quite an attack, so much as it was a huge mistake on my part. I found a letter at the bottom of my picture box, it was big, purple, and said my name on it. I opened it, the room filled with purple smoke, and then I blacked out." She paused, Sirius was sitting next to her now. "I remember waking up a few times, hearing Alice crying, and Remus talking about some poison..."

"_Puniceus__Nex_."

"The purple death?" She said, and he nodded. "Sirius, we can't take this to heavily. Nearly everyone in the order has had an assassination attempt."

"Yes, however..."

"What? What makes me different?"

"I love you."

"Sirius, you want to love me. You care about me- you don't love me."

"Are we going to have this conversation again?" He said, standing up.

"Again?"

"You seventeenth birthday. I told you I might love you, and you told me that I didn't know what love was. Well, I'm eighteen now, and Im sleeping with you and your beautiful, and you make me laugh, and you dangerous and stupid... and I love you."

"Can't we just have sex, it's so much easier then talking about our feelings."

"Why?"

"Because in a time like this, when we could die at any moment, words mean nothing. Show me how much you love me, I want to feel it."

He grabbed her shoulder roughly and slammed his lips into hers, he was nipping at her lips as he kissed her and her hands were moving up his back, only to race back down using her nails. He broke the kiss only to gasp, and then to smirk, continuing the ferocious kiss. After nearly ten minutes, he pulled away, wiping his mouth sloppily and looking down at her.

She laughed quietly. "You're such a dog, Sirius."

He nodded, smiling a little crookedly and holding out his hand. "Let's go to bed, shall we?"

She took it, standing up. "We shall. But, I swear, if there is eve a hint of another woman's perfume on your sheets, I will curse you."

"Not a chance, darling. Not a fucking chance."

* * *

A/N: I do apologize for the sheer shit of this chapter. As most of you know, It's been a while since I posted anything for this story. BUT HAVE NO FEAR. I shall return, and I shall finish it, even if it takes me another year. So, stick with me, don't give up on Sirius and Marlene. Any suggestions for the last couple of chapters? Lord knows Im Open to it.

Review? Thanks.


	26. Weddings

After Marlene was poisoned, things died down considerably. There were no attacks, no warnings... nothing.

It was completely unnerving.

Everyone in the order knew that this meant The Death Eaters were planning something. They were all on edge, with the exception of Lily who was quite busy planning her wedding. Before Marlene knew it, the day had come, and she was sorting through Alice's old dresses, looking for something to wear. Alice, who was beginning to show in the pregnancy department (So was Lily) had settled on a midnight blue number that made her look less pregnant, and more like a Harlot. Marlene was picking through the many dresses, and listening to Alice rant about the current problems at the ministry.

"...And don't even get me started on that old bag Millicent. What an idiot, my mother in law's vulture hat could do a better job of running the ministry."

"What do you think about the purple one?"

"Oh no. There is a maroon one on the right that would probably look gorgeous with your hair. Speaking of, will you take that stupid thing off."

"What thing?"

"The hat."

Marlene was hoping that she could just borrow the dress from Alice, leave, and go back to her parents house and fix what she had ruined.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I... uh... "

"You didn't."

Marlene bit her lip. "I did."

"Well, let me see it then. Right now."

"No. It looks terrible."

"Please, just let me see it."

"I can-"

"Marlene."

"Fine."

She ripped the hat off, and reached behind her to let her hair down. The hay coloring had been replaced by a deep chocolate brown, Alice let out a gasp of surprise.

"See, It's terrible. I think I did the spell wrong, now if you could not mention this to anyon-"

"Shutup."

"what?"

"You look smashing. Better then smashing. Marlene, it looks amazing! Sirius is going to drop dead. The spell was perfect, like I told you it would be."

"So, it looks alright then?" Marlene said, sheepishly and slightly embarrassed about being worried about something so petty as her hair. Seriously, people were dying around her.

"It looks brilliant, really."

"Good." She said, sighing in relief. "Still the maroon one, then?

"Yeah, take it. You're going to look fantastic."

"Thank you so much, Alice. You're a life saver."

"Oh, I know darling." She said.

Marlene folded the dress and shoved it into her bag, kissing Alice on the cheek, she was gone with a pop. An hour before she was supposed to meet Alice at the cottage in which the ceremony was being held, Marlene was completely ready. Lily had told them that even though it was really only the order members, that everyone was to be dressed to the nines, and that the ceremony was robe optional. The dress that Marlene borrowed from Alice was a bit loose, so she had pinned it back to hug her waist. It was flowy on the bottom, and strapless. The deep maroon color matched the tone of her skin nicely. She was wearing a pair of black high heels that were already start to make her heels burn, but it was well worth it. She looked in the mirror and agreed with herself; She looked smashing. She was alone in Sirius' flat, seeing as he was best man, there were certain duties he had to fulfill.

It had been nearly 3 weeks since she was poisoned, January was coming to a close and she had an unnerving sense that everything was about to change. She sat on the couch and just picked through memories, starting with her childhood and by the time she got to Graduation, she looked up and it was time to leave for the wedding of James Potter and Lily Evans.

Within seconds she was standing outside of the cottage, which she assumed had been enlarged, using magic, inside.

"Marlene?" She heard behind her, and turned around very slowly. It wasn't Alice standing behind her, It was Peter Pettigrew. "Y-you look... oh wow."

"Thank you Peter." She said, blushing slightly. "Where is Sirius?"

"Inside. May I?" He said, holding out his arm. She chuckled slightly and looped his with hers, She imagined Peter getting some little thrill from this. After all, she had never seen him with a girl other than his school girlfriend Colleen, who was never very nice. She entered the small cottage (which was much large inside, as she had expected) She didn't really cause anymore attention than any of the other pretty girls in the room, the only one who seemed truly taken aback by her appearance was Sirius. He turned his head, mid laugh, and his face fell. His jam hung down, and he advanced towards Peter.

"I believe that is my date your hanging on to, Wormtail."

Peter blushed and looked down, un-looping his arm from Marlene's. "Sorry, Pads."

"Scurry off." He said, affectionately and clapping his friend on the shoulder. Peter walked away, and Sirius looked Marlene up and down.

"What do you think?"

"I think, Wow. I like your hair. So much, we might have to leave the reception early." She knew he wasn't telling the truth, he would leave only when James told him too, but she appreciated the sentiment anyway. He leaned forward and caught her lips, his hand moving into her hair and giving it a slight tug.

"Hey! Break it up you two." She heard someone yell from across the room, Sirius pulled away laughing. Marlene blushed.

"C'mon, Marly. You're sitting next to Remus, I have to go back and help James not pass out. He's a bit nervous." He led her out to the backyard where the chairs were being set up for the ceremony.

"Not cold feet?"

"Oh, No. He's just marrying his dream girl."

And he left her to look for Remus. She found him in the second row, she shuffled her way between the seats and sat down. "Hello Darling, how are you?"

"Hello Marlene, I'm alright. And yourself?" He didn't look good, and he was staring at her with the most awkward smile she had seen in a long time.

"Fine. Just a little worried about Sirius, and everyone else. It's been too quiet."

"I know what you mean. They're planning something, something big. I can feel it."

"We all can."

They were quiet after that, and Marlene didn't talk to him again before the ceremony. Alice arrived ten minutes after she was supposed to and took her seat next to Marlene. They spent the rest of the wait before the ceremony talking about how good they looked, and how Alice was going to miss dressing up when she was pregnant. The two friends became quiet once the music started. The ceremony was beautiful, and Lily look absolutely stunning (Though Marlene did have a hard time keeping her eyes off Sirius in his Tuxedo). It seemed to drag on for hours, even though Lily and James' vows made Alice cry, it did end. And James and Lily had finally tied the knot.

They all filed into the cottage for the reception, which was decorated elegantly with golds and reds. Marlene took a seat at a table on the far left and as soon as everyone was seated, Lily and James took to the dance floor. James was positively beaming, and halfway into the song, people began to join them on the dance floor. Sirius walked over to Marlene and pulled her up to the dance, and that they did.

The rest of the reception was rather uneventful, with the exception of Remus getting drunk and disappearing halfway through. Sirius did end up leaving the reception early, though it was too comfort his friend, not too shag Marlene.

When it was all said and done, she watched James and Lily ride off into the distance on broomsticks, and then she watched nearly everyone disappear one by one.

"Are you sure you don't want to come back with us? SIrius will know where to find you."

"No, Alice, go ahead. 'm going to help clean up- Ill see you soon."

"Alright, Darling. Have a good night."

"You too."

And she was gone with a pop.

Marlene stayed and helped as long as she could bear it, but within a half an hour, she grabbed Sirius' leather jacket off his chair and set off into the garden to find Sirius and Remus. She made her way into the back garden, she didn't know if they would be there, but there was a good chance. Sure enough, she heard the muffle of voices, and hid behind a rather tall piece of shrubbery, and listened. She could make out the two shapes in the dark. They were sitting side beside, as her eyes adjusted, she realized Sirius had loosened his tie, and was sitting, smoking a cigarette.

"...I told her to get rid of it." Remus said. "She didn't deserve that kind of burden. No one does."

"Are you positive that she was...."

"No, but I guess we will never know now." he chuckled. But it wasn't his usual laugh. It was dry, and dark, and Marlene thought it sounded worse than sobbing. "How are things with you and Marlene?"

"Eh, I never know with that girl. She keeps me on my toes."

"Hang on to her, Sirius. I beg of you, don't mess it all up. You don't deserve her, but you've got her."

"Yeah, hanging by a thread." He said, and laughed. The laughed she loved, the one that sounded like a bark.

"We're all just so lost, Pads." Remus said and sighed. She saw him pick up the bottle beside him and take a swig. "We're barely twenty, and look at us all. We should be out drinking and making life decisions, not dying."

"No, Remus. This is what we should be doing. Fighting for what is right, this is our life decision."

"You don't ever wish that this would all just go away? That you could stop fearing the letter that says Marlene has died, or that James has been capture. Don't you ever wish that you could just settle down with the girl you love and call it a day?"

"No. And I don't think the girl I love would want that either." That caused Remus to take another swig of the bottle beside him.

"I worry about you, Pads. I worry about you more then I think I should."

"You and everyone else, Mate."

Marlene backed away slowly, thinking that she shouldn't interrupt their conversation, and that she should probably just go home by herself and wait for Sirius at his apartment. She walked through the garden alone, making her way back towards the cottage. She took a deep breathe as she opened the door, and saw only Peter and Lily's friend from school, Martha. They seemed to be speaking in hushed voices, and quieted when they looked up and saw Marlene.

She thought nothing of it.

* * *

A/N: So yeah. I finally wrote out the wedding. I got the two filler chapters out of the way, so to speak, so now, I can start writing the action again. I can't help myself, so the chapters will probably become increasingly sappier the closer it is to Marlene's death. I secretly hate Sirius and want to make life terrible for him. (JK!) So... yeah. When I am done with this story, I will hopefully start with the other one I have been planning for almost a year. 'Sarah' - it's a hp next generation thing.

If anyone is super interested, there is a trailer. I believe the link is in my profile. =)


	27. Family

Marlene didn't say anything to Sirius about what she had heard. One, because she was eavesdropping and two, she wasn't exactly what she had heard. Was Dorcas pregnant when she died? Was that what Remus didn't want to burden her with? Well, she wasn't going to ask him, that was for sure. Sirius was testy enough lately now that James and Lily had wed and James wasn't at his beck and call anymore. He trudged around his flat like a little boy who's lolly had been taken away. Marlene mostly ignored him when he went into one of his moods, or went to visit Alice. Her tummy was growing steadily, and Marlene was rather excited to be a godmother.

It was the twelfth of February and Marlene was going home for dinner. She hadn't seen her mother or father, or any of her family in weeks. She had stayed at their summer house for a few days before James and Lily's wedding, but she had been alone. Her mother finally owled her and guilted her into attending her brother Caleb's engagement dinner. She hadn't even known he was engaged.

Sirius poked his head into the bathroom while Marlene was putting the finishing touches on her makeup.

"Where are you going?"

"Home. My brother is engaged."

"Oh." He said, and lingered in the door way. When she looked up, he was glancing at her sideways through his shaggy hair. He only did that when he was avoiding a question her certainly wanted answered.

"What is it, Sirius?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, just tell me, would you?" She turned to face him, placing a hand on her hip.

"How come you didn't invite me?"

She was silent, in all honesty, she hadn't even considered the idea. "Well, I haven't really told them about you, so.."

"They don't know your living with me?"

"They don't know I'm seeing you."

He was quiet after that, and Marlene glanced back to the mirror for only a second, and when she looked back, he was gone. Sighing heavily, she made her way into the back bedroom and found him, standing in front of the closet.

"What should I wear?"

"what are you talking about?"

"I'm coming with you."

"Uh, okay. But, do you think we can, uh, go as friends?"

"Friends? If you mean friends who occasionally shag and are madly in love, then sure." He flashed her a smile, and she sat on the bed to pull on her shoes.

"We are not madly in love."

Sirius rolled his eyes at the closet, Marlene could just feel it. She sat on the bed for fifteen minutes while Sirius decided what would make the best impression on her family. She told him there was no point, they were going to be angry with her anyway. She was well aware of the way her brothers thought of Sirius, and even though she didn't agree, they had always been ferociously protective of their little sister. At 9:00 he was finally ready, and Sirius insisted on taking his motorcycle.

"But they only live twenty minutes away."

"So, on the bike it will be ten."

"Or we can apparate and be there in less than a second."

"Oh fine." He said, and was gone. She rolled her eyes, and was gone with a pop, and found herself standing in front of him outside of her house. She glanced down the street and walked towards the front door, leaving Sirius standing behind her. "So this is where you grew up?"

"Yup." She said, pushing the door open. She could hear voices down the hall and led Sirius towards the small parlor. "Now please," She whispered. "Be nice."

"Marlene!" Caleb yelled, lunging forward and grabbing his baby sister into a bear hug. He was smiling as he let her go, but his face fell when he looked behind her and saw Sirius. "Hello Sirius." He said, without emotion.

Sirius held out his hand, and gritted his teeth when Caleb grabbed it, squeezing his fingers together. Marlene moved forward through the room, and stood in front of her mother. "Hullo Mum." She said, leaning down to give her a halfhearted hug. Her mother smiled up at her politely and nodded her head.

"C'mere Marly." Her father said, his irish accent getting weaker with his age. "How've you been, darling?"

"I've been good, Dad." She said, hugging him, tightly.

"Still running around with Sirius, I see." He said, nodding his head to Sirius, who nodded back. "And what did you do to your hair?"

"It's brown."

"Ah, but yer hair was so beautiful." She smiled, but ignored the comment.

"Where are Mark and Louis?" She asked, glancing around the room.

"Upstairs." Caleb said, "With my Fiancee."

"Uh, why?" She said, confused and glancing toward the stairs.

"There having a word with her." He said, obviously uncomfortable with the fact.

"Oh, I have to hear this." She said with a smile, turning and practically running up the stairs. "I'll be right back, Sirius."

Sirius looked into the living room, and noticed that all three people were looking at him.

"Hello." He said awkwardly.

Marlene walked hastily down the hall and stopped when she heard voices in Caleb's old room.

"Now, Melissa, It's not that we don't trust you, it's just that, you know, you're an American and- Marly!" Louis said, when she pushed the door open and looked inside.

"Caleb's fiancee is an American?" Marlene whispered to her brother when he got up to hug her. He nodded and when he moved, she was face to face with the girl her brother was too marry. She was a little mousy, but pretty. she smiled gently, and stood up.

"You must be Marlene." Her voice was strange, Marlene had never heard an American speak, in person anyway. She did have an accent that sounded just like someone out of the old western muggle movies her father used to watch in his free time. She shook the girls hand, and Melissa turned around to face her two brothers. "Ya'll got nothing to worry about. We operate mostly the same in the states, I understand ya'll are in a war and whatnot, I know how to keep my mouth shut." Louis nodded, as did Mark.

Marlene moved to stand in front of her oldest brother as Louis led the girl from the room. "How've you been, brother?"

"Eh, can't complain. Better than you, I bet, my little warrior." He hugged her tightly, and kissed the top of her head. "please be careful."

"Since when are you so responsible, Marky?" She said, pulled out of the hug and punching he brother lightly in the chest. "We better get down there before the vultures get to Sirius."

Mark stopped. "You brought Sirius with you?"

"He insisted."

"Are you too..."

"I think so."

"You think so?"

"Oh stop. Come downstairs."

She left, and Mark followed behind her, sighing and making comments about how she should be more responsible in picking mates. The scene they found when they came downstairs, was far from what Marlene had been expecting.

"... I can't believe you're here! I haven't seen you since that night."

Sirius shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Yeah, that was some night."

"Sure was." She said, nodding and grinning.

Caleb was staring at Sirius, red as a tomato. "How well do you two know each other, exactly?"

"Well.." Melissa said.

Before Sirius could say anything, Marlene hurried over and pulled him up by the arm. "Sirius, dear, can I speak with you in the kitchen?"

"Sure." He said as she dragged him towards the entrance hall and into the kitchen.

"Please," She said, letting him go and raising a hand to her forehead. "Tell me you didn't shag the woman my brother is going to marry."

"I didn't shag her."

"Oh thank god."

"I did snog her though."

"Oh son of a-"

"It was a few years ago! At a quidditch match. She was on a school trip and we met at the snack cart."

"Please, don't tell Caleb that. He has gone through enough woman in his lifetime. I don't think my mom could watch him mess it up again."

"Uh... Marlene?" Louis said, making his way into the kitchen. "I would get Sirius out of here, Caleb is having one massive freak out in the living room."

"Is it bad?"

"Pretty bad."

"Worse than Andrea?"

"No! My god, Marlene. Nothing will ever be worse than the Andrea freak out, you know that."

"Andrea from Ravenclaw? I dated her."

"We know." Louis and Marlene said at the same time.

Marlene sighed angrily, and looked to Sirius. "Wait here." She said, and let Louis lead her back into the living room. Caleb was sitting across from Melissa who was smiling cheerfully, seemingly unaware of the catastrophe that was inevitably going to be her current relationship. "Marlene," Caleb said, looking up. "Are you with him?"

She was quiet. "Yes." She said.

"Do you love him."

She opened her eyes wide, looking around the room. Her Mother and Father had excused themselves, obviously.

"Yes." She said, nodding.

"Well, then I suppose I can learn to like him, even if he did snog my future wife. Call him back in here."

"Are you going to rip his head off?"

"As long as he says nothing about women. Any woman but you, at least."

"Fine."

The evening was relatively quiet after that. They sat in the living room until midnight, playing cards and asking Melissa endless questions about America. When Marlene's eyes were dropping, and she was falling asleep on Sirius shoulder, she supposed it was time to go. They stood up, and bid farewell.

Mark stuck his hand out to Sirius, who shook it. "I swear to Merlin, Black, if you hurt my baby sister- I will curse you and your future children."

"You have my word."

They apparated back to Sirius' flat, and Marlene took her shoes off, throwing them under the kitchen table and heading straight to the bathroom. She needed to get the makeup off her face, and the product out of her hair. Turning on the shower, she undressed quickly and stepped into the steaming water. After only thirty seconds she heard the door shut, and Sirius poked his head in.

"May I join you?"

* * *

A/N: So, no action. Just Sirius hoe-ness. Next chapter there will be action, I promise. I just wanted to squeeze in some Sirius family acceptance before I killed anyone else.

And thank you Ashley for still reviewing my story. You and Zipporah seem to be the only ones who stuck around. SO THANKS.


	28. Betray

I know, I know. It's been forever. But I have not forgotten about Sirius and Marlene. I'm just a little distracted. To those of you who are still reading, wow, you are loyal! I hope this answers some questions.

* * *

Marlene was suddenly overcome with an irreversible sense of dread come March.

Something terrible was coming, and she could feel it. Though she was forced to ignore it, it was always there, and it preyed on her emotions whenever she was alone. Marlene knew very well that terrible things were happening all around her, and felt that the sense of dread should be due to the fact that there was a ring of murderous psychos running around killing all of her friends, but it was different. It was more personal. Something was going to happen to her, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. By mid March, Sirius began noticing that something was wrong. He said the light in her eyes had gone out.

"Sirius..." Marlene said. They were laying in bed, still panting from the making part of the love they were supposedly in.

"What?"

"Do you think we're going to die?"

He stared at her for a moment. "Is that what's been wrong lately, you think I'm going to die."

"No. I think- I know I am."

His eyes widened with alarm. "What the hell do you mean? Your not dying, not while I'm still alive."

"I just have this- this terrible feeling that won't ever go away. Like, something is not aligned right in my body, or my destiny is to die in the throes of battle. And I know that's what I am suppose to do, and if I have to die, I would rather go out fighting, I just don't know if I'm done yet. I'm barely 20 years old. I don't want to die because some egotistical wizarding maniac decided that his way was right and ours was wrong!"

Sirius was quiet, and then reached out and ran a hand along her cheek. "I won't ever let anything happen to you."

"I know you won't, it's everyone else I'm worried about."

"Everyone else, who? Marly, if your fighting, I'm fighting. Those bastards almost killed you, and I am never letting that happen again."

"Sirius, you can't be with me every minute of every day."

"Why not?" He said, staring down at her, propped up on an elbow.

"Because! We are living in a time of war, you have duties and so do I. If You have to go off on a mission, or if I get called away, or If Remus needs help with Fenrir... then what? Am I supposed to go with you? It's just not possible for you to protect me. Not always anyway."

"Just stop feeling so dreadful, your not dying, nobody is."

"Sirius, just because you don't want it too happen doesn't mean it will just go away."

"I just know that no one that I care about is going to die. Your just all too..."

"Too what?"

"Too good. If James, or you or Peter or anyone else dies, then that will mean that the other side is stronger. And that just cannot happen."

Marlene was silent for a moment. She couldn't believe the first thing that popped into her head as soon as he said what he had said. She whispered, almost hoping he wouldn't hear. "But what if they are?" Now Sirius was quiet. He stared at her with bags under his eyes, looking much older than his twenty years. She didn't know if he had been having the same feelings of dread and longing for the war to end as quickly as possible.

"They aren't, Marlene. They just can't be."

They didn't have another conversation about Marlene's terrible feelings, until nearly a week later when they went over to James and Lily's house for dinner. James and Sirius had run off together to mull some things over, Marlene supposed that James as well as Sirius, just needed some lad time. Whatever they were doing, Lily and Marlene were now sitting in the parlor alone. Don't get Marlene wrong, Lily was a nice girl. She had never had any problems with her in school, and they had never gotten into an argument. They just weren't what one would call mates. They had their differences, and it seemed the only thing they really had in common besides their love for books was the fact that their significant others happen to be the best of friends.

So imagine Marlene's surprise when Lily turned to Marlene with a look of utter dread and began to talk about her innermost feelings.

"Marlene, I know I don't know you very well, but I feel like this past year we have gotten a little closer. You are a woman also, and a very good witch at that and James just won't listen to me but I have to talk about this with someone. Lately, I have been getting these terrible feelings. And I know that we are in a war and I'm pregnant so thats probably not helping, but I just can't help but feeling that something horrific is going to happen someone."

Lily must have known by Marlene's face that her feelings were similar because her features contorted with fear and she strangled out a small, "Oh no."

"I know how you feel, Lily. I have been feeling this sense of, dread. Like I'm going to die. Like, I should do everything I can while I'm still alive."

"Have you talked to Sirius?"

"Yeah, he said I was mad."

"Well, don't let him tell you that. We are women, we know things that they just couldn't. A witch's intuition is much stronger than they could ever imagine. You should be very careful the next couple of months. The war is no where near over, I can feel it. We have many more bad days ahead of us. Many more."

Somehow, this wasn't making Marlene feel any better, and she thanked Merlin when Sirius and James reentered the room, though, neither of them looked at their happiest either. "Ready to go, Marlene?" Sirius said, and she nodded, not looking away from Lily. She stood up, and Lily followed, giving her a hug.

"Take care of yourself, and be careful." She said in Marlene's ear. Pulling away, she looked her hard in the face. "If you need anything at all, just let me know."

Marlene nodded and took Sirius' hand, the boys were staring at them terribly confused. "Goodbye James." Marlene said, and he waved with a short smile.

Sirius led her from the house, handing her a helmet as they hopped onto his motorcycle. "What was that about?"

"What?"

"You hugging Lily like that."

"Just girl stuff, you wouldn't understand. I'll tell you later."

He nodded, though she could tell by his face he would definitely be inquiring more later. She hugged him twice as tight as she usually did, her eyes closed, the entire ride back to his flat. She was terrified that something was going to fall out of the sky and kill her. She was on edge the entire walk up the stairs, and didn't relax until she had checked every room in the flat too make sure that they were the only one's there.

"Okay, Marlene, what the hell is up? Your acting like a spy on the run."

"We kind of are spy's and we might as well be on the run."

"Yes, however, just tell me what's wrong."

"Lily told me that she has been having the same feelings, this just dreadful feeling that someone she knows is going to die. Now, I don't mean to sound crazy but Lily knows me, and I feel like I'm going to die, and she feels like someone she knows is going to die, and..." She couldn't finish, she could only sink down onto the couch and stare up at Sirius, scared out of her mind. "I'm just terrified."

He took a seat next to her and laid a hand on her knee. "I know, but so is everyone else."

"What are you saying? That my feelings should be discounted just because everyone else is feeling the same way. That's not very fair."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that if I was James and I was saying this to you, you would look into it a little more! I'm saying your discounting my feelings because I'm nothing but a scared little girl to you."

"Marly, you know that's not true."

"Besides the point, I'm going out." She said, grabbing her bag.

"Marlene! That's not such a good idea, especially since your inner eye is saying your going to die." She sensed the sarcasm in his voice and scoffed.

"Well maybe you should look into your inner eye and see when the hell I'm coming back. Oh, news flash! Not anytime soon." And she was gone with a pop, spinning on the spot when she reached her destination. She was surprised to find herself on Remus Lupin's doorstep. The lights were on, and she knocked on the door.

He answered the door looking more ragged then ever. Marlene had never been happier to see him.

"Hello Marlene, come in, It's late." He turned and closed the door behind her as she stepped into his flat. He turned around smiling slightly, but it fell as soon as he saw the tears in her eyes. "Oh my, What happened?"

"Sirius is an insensitive prick and I just needed to talk to someone with a heart for a change. I didn't even mean to come here, I just... I don't know."

Remus strode over to her and steered her by her shoulders to the plush couch. "Would you like some tea?"

"Sure." She said, nodding, and he bustled off to the kitchen. He returned a few seconds later with a kettle and two mugs. After pouring some for himself and Marlene, he took a seat next to her.

"What happened?"

She explained everything to him. The way Sirius favored his friends over her, how he discounted her feelings and made her feel as if they were just stupid musings. He nodded and listened and Marlene found herself staring at him with a newfound respect. Some muggle station must have been on his radio because Queen was pouring out of it, Marlene's dad used to listen to the song that was playing quite often. 'Somebody to love'. How fitting.

She set her teacup down and stopped drinking. Remus looked tired and unloved, and Marlene was set on changing that. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, and opened his eyes wide, but she deepened the kiss and he responded, moving his hand to her thigh.

She knew it was wrong, but she was upset and Remus looked so sad and as much as it was wrong it seemed very right.

* * *

So, uh... Marlene kind of took over there. The plot bunnies have escaped their cage and are running rampant. Please don't be mad at me....


	29. Leave

It all happened very fast, Remus flipped Marlene onto her bak, moving his hands to the buttons on her shirt, he ripped it off, discarding it to the floor. She reached down and unbuckled his belt. She got it halfway off before Marlene opened her eyes wide, The Queen song had ended and she was thrust back into reality. She broke the kiss and wriggled her way out from under Remus, falling on the floor.

"What the hell are we doing?"

Remus was red in the face, he sat up and ran a hand through his hair. "I dunno, Marly."

"What the hell am I doing?" She said to herself, standing and buttoning her shirt back up. "I have to go Remus, I'm so sorry." She said, he opened his mouth to speak, but she was already gone. By the time Remus spat out the word 'wait' she was already back in Sirius' flat, practically running to the bedroom.

She pushed the door open. "Siri-" she started, but the room was empty. She walked to the bed and plopped down, sniffing slightly, for no reason at all tears were forming in her eyes. They lingered o the brink of falling, but she wiped them away impatiently. She didn't deserve to cry about Sirius, after what she had done, she didn't even deserve to be sitting on his bed. Marlene looked up briefly when she heard the lock in the door click. Sirius shuffled into the bedroom not even looking at her, he kicked off his shoes, shrugged off his leather jacket and pulled a bottle of Firewhiskey out of a brown paper sack.

"Come on."

"Where're we going?"

"To the kitchen, come on." She followed him out of the room and into the kitchen. Without a word he uncorked the bottle and took a swig straight out of the neck. He looked sullen and sad, and for a brief second Marlene saw a bit of Regulus in him, that dark brooding beauty that Sirius had never embodied. "I don't know how to tell you this, but..."

"You slept with someone else." She said, hoping beyond hope that he would say yes and she could get mad and be done with it, never having to feel bad about a simple kiss with Remus.

"No! Marlene, no," He took another swig. "I would never. It's about Remus."

She felt all the color drain out of her face, and it was everything she had to keep from collapsing to the floor. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Sirius."

"So you know? Did Prongs tell you?"

"What?"

"We think Moony is working for the other side."

"What?" She said, this time she did sink to the ground. Not only had she snogged a man that wasn't Sirius, but she had snogged a man that was possibly working against everything they were working for. Sirius bent down to face her, the bottle still in his hand. She snagged it from him and took a swig, the liquid scalding her throat. She coughed slightly, wiping her mouth, she stared into Sirius' face. "Are you sure?"

"No," He said, looking at her strangely. She imagined that he was wondering why this news had affected her so much. "It's just something James and I have been discussing and it seems likely as of now."

"B-but it's Remus. He can't be working for them, he despises them-"

"We think Dorcas dying may have sent him over the edge."

"I don't think so, I was just with-" She stopped herself, rising to her feet.

"What? You were with who?"

Oh, Merlin's Pants. "Remus, I was with Remus."

"Why?"

"Well, after we had our row I just popped out and ended up on his doorstep." Marlene was blushing, she could feel the blood rushing to her face.

"What were you so sorry about?" He said, reddening in the face as well, though she imagined for an entirely different reason. He took a swig of the bottle, never taking his eyes off of her.

"What do you mean?"

"Before, I said it's about Remus and you apologized. Why?" Marlene was silent, she opened her mouth to speak and closed it again. What could she possibly say? It's not like they had had sex, they had ALMOST had sex. There is a difference. Right? "What happened? Did he do something to you?"

Oh, silly Sirius, so valiant. "No, we just- I was mad at you and he made me tea and... it was nothing. It just happened, and then-"

He cut her off. "Did you sleep with him?" Sirius said, not yelling. His voice was low and mean like Marlene had never heard it. He was gripping the neck of the bottle so hard his knuckles were white.

"No." She said, shaking her head.

"Almost, then?"

She shook her head a second time. "Yes- well no, it was just a kiss."

"I'm going to kill that furry fucking traitor." He said, taking a swig of the bottle. Marlene reached out to stop him as soon as he apparated and found herself a block from Remus' cottage.

"Sirius, no! It was my fault, I kissed him. I was hurt and this Queen song was on- He's not a traitor, I know it! Not Remus."

Sirius turned around, his voice practically a hiss. "Go home, Marlene. I'll deal with you later."

The venom in his voice scared her half to death. James. She needed to get James. With a pop, she was in Godric's Hollow, practically running to the doorstep of James and Lily potter. She knocked frantically and it was Lily who came to the door. "Marlene, hello, come in we were jus- What's the matter?" It was starting to rain and Marlene could imagine she looked like a wreck.

"I need James. Sirius went after Remus, he's there just now doing god knows what!" Lily turned on the spot.

"James!" He came running, glasses askew, from the back of the house. His eyes rested on Marlene and he walked to the door, gently moving Lily aside.

"What happened?"

"It's Sirius, he went after Remus."

"Oh no."

"We have to go!" She practically yelled. Fat drops were falling onto her now, her hair was practically soaking wet. "Please, come on, he's going to do something stupid."

"Alright. Lily, Ill be home soon."

"Please be careful." She said, leaning forward to kiss her husband.

He smiled roguishly and was gone with a pop, Marlene followed seconds after. She landed a little ways from the cottage and could see flashes of light coming from within. James ran forward and threw the door open, Marlene just stood watching the scene unfold through shadows on the windows. The rain was falling down, soaking her from head to toe and for the first time she realized that things were going to be very different from now on. It was only June of 1980, they had been out of school for barely two years and they were falling apart. This is exactly what the death eaters wanted, for them to lose faith, turn against each other and stop caring.

James exited with Sirius five minutes after he got there. Sirius was limping slightly and hanging on James' shoulder. She could see that James was holding his wand, and that Sirius was holding a mostly empty bottle of firewhiskey.

"He's drunk, you should get him home."

"I'm not drunk and I'm not going anywhere with her."

"He's a mean drunk." James said, apologetically.

"No, she's just a jezebel. I'm done with promiscuous woman. Why don't you go inside and finish the job with ol' Moony, he's probably a WOLF in the sack."

Tears had sprung Marlene's eyes, and James was looking between the two very confused. "James," She said, her voice cracking slightly. "I'm going to sleep at Alice's tonight, do you think you could take care of him."

"Of course, Marly. I'm sure he doesn't even know what he's talking about."

"No. He does." She said, and turned to walk down the road, she would apparate there so they didn't have to see her sobbing the way she was. At least it was raining so nobody she passed could tell she was crying. Ducking behind a small shop, she apparated quickly and landed with a thud at Alice Longbottom's small cottage. The lights were on and through the window she could see a very pregnant Alice and a very happy Frank enjoying dinner. She hated to disturb them, but she was willing to be selfish and she needed her friend. She knocked three times on the door. Frank answered with a smile which fell once he laid eyes on Marlene.

She pushed past him into the house, "Hi Frank." and walked straight to Alice, wrapping her arms around her friends neck and hugging her as tight as she could over her belly. "I've done something terrible."

"Oh, honey. Come on, into the bedroom, let's get you cleaned up and then you can tell me all about it."

She nodded and watched Alice shoot a concerned look towards Frank as she led her towards the bedroom. Twenty minutes later Marlene was showered and clean, wearing a pair of Alice's old pre-pregnancy pajamas, and sitting on her bed with a pillow on her lap.

"You kissed him? Thats it?" She asked, turning her head to the side.

"Well, a little more than that."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that there was removal of clothing and almost penetration."

She gasped slightly. "Oh, Marlene. That's not good."

"I know, and now I don't even know if Sirius will ever want to see my face again."

"I'm sure he will understand." She paused and Marlene looked at her uncertain. "Alright, probably not- but maybe he will just get over it."

"I don't know, he can be so stubborn and loyal. I betrayed him, that's how he sees it. I was disloyal to him by kissing Remus. If it was someone random he would be angry, but you would be right, he would get over it. But this, this is different. The only thing that could have been worse was if I kissed well... you know."

"Fabian."

The name stung slightly, Marlene spent more time telling herself not to think of him than she did thinking about Sirius. You never get over your first love, and Fabian was just that for her. The first boy she had ever loved. Her love for Fabian was so different from her love for Sirius, it was so innocent. She missed innocence. The war had stripped it from her life and from everyone around her. They were all so young, but so weathered. "I think I might go stay with Caleb for a while, or maybe Mark. Caleb has his fiance to deal with. Did I tell you, she's american?"

"Yeah, you did. But Marly, darling, you can't just avoid Sirius."

"Why not?"

"Because you love him."

"Yeah, but- oh well. He called me a jezebel!"

Alice gasped. "He did not!"

"Oh, he did."

"Silent treatment it is, then?" Alice asked.

"Silent treatment." Marlene said with a nod.

* * *

The last two sentences were recycled from the first time Sirius and Marlene broke up. Girls never stop handling things the same way. I know I failed miserably at keeping with the timeline by killing Fabian and Gideon before Marlene, so I might kill Marlene a little earlier than she would have died, just too keep the story going. I know, I know, I'm doing it wrong. Just call it an AU if it really bothers you.


	30. Mark

Okay... so, I know it's been like... a year or something since I updated. But I am going to finish this story! I have a couple of chapters written out, and I promise, I will end it. if anyone is still around, leave a review or PM me or something! You are loyal!

Thankyou for dealing with me. Ily guys!

* * *

Staying with her brother Mark was harder then it initially sounded. Marlene had had enough time to settle in to Sirius' flat. The small dwelling now had a touch of feminine quality, but Mark's humble abode was nothing but a bachelor pad. Beer bottles and empty cartons of god knows what littered the entire house. She dropped her bag on the floor and wiped a strand of dark hair behind her ear.

"It's not much-"

"Mark, you're living like a zoo animal."

"What? I am not. I cleaned up for you."

She turned to him, shocked. "This is an improvement? You should be happy the death eaters haven't found you by now, I would think the smell alone would lead them straight your way."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing I am not so much a rebel as my little sister."

"Oh, ha ha." She spat, sarcastically, side stepping over to the couch and carefully picking up a grocery bag with some sort of liquid dripping from it. At least the couch wasn't completely filthy. "Has mother ever been here?"

Oh no, can you imagine?"

"She would probably flog you."

He chuckled slightly, and just stared at her for a minute. "You really won't tell me why you can't stay with Sirius anymore?"

"It's the Order's business not mine. You're not as involved as I am, and I wouldn't want to betray anyones trust."

"Are you sure this is an Order problem and not a Sirius problem?"

"Even if it was, do you think that would really be any of your business?"

He sighed and took a seat next to her on the couch, propping his feet up on the table. "Do you mind?" He said, holding up a cigarette. She shook her head no and he lit it with the tip of his wand. Waving it once, he flipped on the radio. The music that filled the room was something by 'The Pussing Warts'. Mark loved them and their heavy sound, Marlene could never really get over the name. "And I do think it's my business, because if that bugger hurt you, I would love a reason to bludgeon him into the cobblestone."

"As nice as that sounds right now, I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

He scoffed and turned to her. "You think he could take me in a fight? Marlene, I'm insulted."

"He's very strong. Stronger then you think, and quick on his feet. Plus, if you fought him, you might have to fight James- and he's one of the most skilled fighters I have ever seen."

"Pfft, poppycock. Tell me what he did."

"No!"

"Come on, Marlene! I'm letting you sleep here, I at least deserve to know why."

He did have a point, but she was not giving up the easily. "It will only make things harder on the both of us."

"So you're admitting it isn't 'order business'?" He asked.

"Fine, yes, it 's not order business. I betrayed his trust, so he said something nasty."

"What did he say?" And suddenly he was sitting up, very tense, his whole body on edge. "Marlene, what did he say to you?"

"You're not the least bit interested in what I did to deserve it?"

"I know one thing about you, and that is that you don't just love anyone. You love him, and for him to say something so rotten that you immediately left, that's serious. Now what did he say?"

"It really wasn't a huge deal!"

"Obviously it was to you."

She was quiet for a moment, and finally answered, staring down at her hands. "He called me a jezebel."

All was silent, and the only sound was that of the radio. An advertisement for new kind of broomstick was playing, the man overly excited, practically screaming about how it 'lived up to it's name' which was meteor or something similar.

"I'm going to kill him." He said, standing up. Marlene grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled him back down.

"You are going to do nothing of the sort. You are going to stay out of my business and let me mend whatever is broken. If I find out you went after him, I will hex you so bad mum won't recognize you come christmas. You hear me?"

He swallowed slightly. "When did you become so scary?"

"War effects people differently."

They did not talk about Sirius again until the next night, and only briefly. Marlene spent the next two days disinfecting her brothers nuclear wasteland and working on making it into a livable space. She was scrubbing the kitchen floor when the patronus came. There was a meeting being held tonight, it was being held at Lily and James' cottage.

Wonderful.

It's not like it's going to be awkward or anything. "Marlene, what's the matter?"

"Huh what?" She hadn't even heard him enter the kitchen, too engrossed in her own thoughts.

"You look white as a ghost."

"I'm fine. I'm gonna be going out tonight,"

"Where?"

"There is a meeting."

"I'm coming with you."

"Did you get a patronus?"

"No."

"Then you're not coming with me, are you?"

"But you can't be around him-"

"Mark, end of discussion, drop it. You're not coming and that's final. Sirius and I are both adults, and we know that whatever petty misunderstanding are keeping us apart, the order and the war are both bigger then us. You need to recognize the magnitude of what is happening around you like we have."

Mark was quiet and just stared down at his sister, all sweaty and messy. Her hair was sticking her her forehead and falling out the the ponytail that was hardly keeping the thick hair in place in the first place. "Get up."

"But I'm no-"

He hooked an arm around her elbow and picked her up. "I'll finish, it's my mess. Go relax, take a shower, get dressed. Make him miss you."

She smiled staring up at her big brother, and then wrapping her arms around his waist, hugged him. "Thanks, Mark."

"No problem, Love. Now go, you smell like my kitchen floor."


	31. Sirius

I will finish this story if it kills me! hahaha

* * *

When Marlene arrived at the Potter residence, she could already hear people inside. She knocked a couple of times and Lily answered looking dreadful and stepped aside. "Hullo Marlene."

She nodded. "Lily."

The room was filled with hushed whisper and she could see that this meeting was very small. Only the most essential people were there. Alice and Frank were across the room, talking Emmeline Vance. She was dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief and speaking in hushed tones

"... He was just such a good man. Elphias didn't want to lie to me, and," She paused to sniffle and wipe her eyes, choking on a small sob. "It wasn't quick. The could only... they could only find bits of him."

Marlene swallowed and wondered who they were speaking of. She glanced around the room and panicked slightly when Sirius was no where to be found. Lupin was also missing. She backed away from the group in the far corner and skulked through the room over to James.

"Ah, Marlene." he said, offering her the chair next to him, which she accepted. Lily was busy answering the door. "Benjy is dead. He was hit with some sort of blasting curse, Moody went after him, but they couldn't find much." he paused and gulped slightly, glancing over at her. "How are you holding up?"

The news of Benjy's death made her trials seem very meaningless, so she just nodded. "I'm holding up well, thankyou. Where is Sirius?"

"Upstairs, you know how he gets."

"He doesn't take death well, that's for sure."

James nodded, but said nothing more.

Marlene spent the next couple of minutes merely looking around the room, trying to memorize all the faces of everyone there. The room was crowded even though there were only about twelve people. When Dumbledore finally entered, everyone hushed. The room stood stoic for what felt like hours, and Marlene just looked at her hands.

During that time Sirius entered the small living room and took his seat next to Lily.

Dumbledore spoke slowly, his voice very soft, the traces of a smile lingering across his thin lips. "We have come so very far." And he took his seat.

They spent the better part of the hour discussing things they had seen, who had been attacked, who was missing or dead. Once all was out in the open, they broke off into groups to discuss tactics, individual missions. No one person could know too much.

At the moment, Marlene had not been assigned to any special mission. She opted to duck into the kitchen, and when she found Edgar Bones and Emmeline Vance discussing something in hushed whispers, she left and decided the staircase was her best option to avoid any further interruption. Climbing halfway up so she was in the dark, Marlene took a seat and laid her head in her hands.

She could still hear the voices from the living room. She found her thoughts wandering to Remus, wondering where he was, if he was okay. She had noticed Sirius had a black eye when they were together in the living room.

This war was tearing them apart from the inside out. She wished that somehow she could express to Sirius that this is exactly what the Death Eaters wanted. They wanted them all to self destruct and blame one another. They were slowing breaking the ones they wanted away from the pack.

Well if that was the case then- "Marlene."

Her head shot up and she was face to face with Sirius Black. She cleared her throat and nodded. "Sirius." He said nothing in return, but she noticed that the bruise was not just on his cheek, but his neck was also a rough dark blue. He must be covered in them, his whole body.

She then reminded herself to avoid thoughts of Sirius' body at all costs.

"I... well, I came up here to ask you to come home. Back to my flat, I mean." Marlene was taking aback to say the least. "I am not forgiving you, but I did promise to protect you. I don't break promises."

"Sirius, I cannot come back to your flat. We both know why. I betrayed you, and things will never be the same, you will never love me the way you did."

"Don't tell me how I'm going to feel, Marlene."

"Why not? Everyone can see it. Even James won't even touch this one, because he knows when it comes down to betrayal your a lost cause. It's not your job to protect me, I have brothers."

"But it is my job. It's always been my job."

"No!" She nearly yelled at him. "Sirius Black you cannot be serious. The only person you need to protect is yourself."

"What if I don't want to just worry about myself? Maybe it's better to be in danger with the people you love then not be in any danger at all."

"You're being daft."

"Tell me you don't miss me." She was quiet. "Tell me that you don't wish that this never happened, that you don't love me and crave my forgiveness. Go ahead, say it." She was quiet still, He climbed the stairs until they were face to face, close enough to touch noses if Marlene leaned in an inch. "Tell me you don't miss being in my bed." He reached out a hand to touch her cheek and she pushed it away.

"I do miss you, and I do wish that it never happened, but it did. As far as craving your forgiveness, it would be nice, but it won't ever happen. I'm soiled to you, I know it." Tears stung her eyes, "Don't make this harder for me, people are dying all around us. I've had enough loss for a lifetime." She was full on crying now, trying to push him away but he wouldn't move. "You can't do this to me anymore. You can't dangle happiness in front of me and then decide I'm not doing a good enough job."

He was silent when he inched back, making his way back down the stairs. He wouldn't look her in the eye, and his voice had a rough edge to it she had heard before. "You're coming back with me weather your like it or not. You're brothers can't offer you the protection I can."

"Sirius, you make me stupid, being with you clouds my judgement. You're no good for me."

He sighed, slapping his hand down on the banister. "How many times do we have to go through this, Marlene? How many times are you going to find me unworthy of your damn affections? You say I'm dragging you along, that I don't think you're good enough. When am I going to be good enough?" She was quiet, so he went on. "I take you with all of your imperfections, I accept you no matter what. Even after you have rejected me, cheated on me, stepped on me, I still come back for more."

"Sirius-"

"No, let me finish. I could die tomorrow. You could die tonight. Would you rather waste the time we have left mucking around in indecision? Or do you want to come home with me tonight?"

There was no question. "When are we leaving?"

"I'll come get you."

And then he was gone and Marlene's brother was going to kill her.


	32. Babies

Weekly updates, possibly daily- exciting for the two of you who are still reading this hahaha.

I love you guys. :))))

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Sirius' flat was a mess. It had only been a week, but obviously Marlene had been the main source of hygiene. She winced on the inside thinking about what the Gryffindor common room must have looked like. Boys were disgusting.

"Sirius?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever wish we were back in school?"

He stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at her. "What makes you ask that?"

"I was just thinking about how miniscule all of our problems were then. I mean, my greatest worry was weather or not Fabian would love me back. Then you came along, and I was caught in this horrible triangle and I thought it was the worst thing in the word." She scoffed a little. "Who knew that a year and a half later a fourth of my friends would be dead."

He took a seat on his sofa and Marlene leaned against the wall. "Can I ask you a question?" She nodded. "Do you promise to answer truthfully?"

"Of course."

"If he was still alive, would you be here with me?"

She knew he was referring to Fabian and the small hole in her heart ached for him. He had been so much more then an ex boyfriend. He had been her best friend. For as long as she could remember it had been Alice, Fabian and herself. The three musketeers. "I honestly don't know. Fabian and I had a different kind of relationship. You give me fire, and excitement. I was safe with him, I knew that no matter what I did he would always be there."

Sirius looked hurt and just looked own at his hands. Something about Marlene had always made him more truthful then he wanted to be. She brought his cocky facade to an end. "How mad is your brother going to be?"

She widened her eyes a little. "Pretty mad."

"Which one is it? Not Caleb, right?"

"No, Mark."

He sighed a little, and leaned back into the sofa. His whole body seemed tense, despite his relaxed position. Marlene was leaning against the wall with her hands crossed on her chest. The awkwardness hung around the room like a fog, and Marlene and Sirius both were on edge in each others presence. Marlene had always been edgy around Sirius, even after almost two years, he still made her nervous as a school girl. "It's... it's almost your birthday."

"Yep, about three days."

"I'd almost forgotten."

"In typical lad fashion, of course. Maybe the little potter will be born on my birthday."

He chuckled a little. "I think she's not due for a little while longer then three days. Probably around August first."

"Alice as well, she's about to pop." he paused and opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, looking her straight in the face, then down again. She knew exactly what he was thinking. "Are you going to ask me... if I... ?"

"I was just wondering if you were at all thinking about children."

"Alice's or having my own?"

"Having some."

"Are you saying you want to have children, Sirius Black?"

"Maybe. I mean, this is a war, and it would be nice to maybe have a little one to carry on my legacy. I can't honestly think of anyone with enough patience to raise my children, besides you."

She was struck practically silent. "Sirius I... uh. I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything. Mostly, if you die, I just want something to remember you by."

Sirius has never spoken about her dying before, he had never even eluded to it. She got the sense that he wasn't okay in the least bit, that something was terribly wrong. "What's the matter with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're having some kind of crisis. Just a few hours ago you were going on and on about how we had to live in the moment, and now you're telling me you need something to remember me by."

"Remus is missing. No one has seem him since... well since last week."

Marlene's stomach dropped considerably. "Do you think he..."

"We're not sure. But neither I nor James want to believe it. He's a friend, a brother even, and I would die for him. We're going to have to go find him."

"I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not. Its too dangerous."

"Sirius, don't be a ponce, I'm twice the dueler you are. You may be quick, but I have skill and you know it. I come from a line of the greatest wizard and witches in the past century, you should be honored I want to join you."

He spoke quickly. "You're right, I'm being selfish." he paused. "I just know that death could take you from me so easily. It could take anyone, at any moment. Bellatrix wants you dead, she knows that you're very important."

"To you or The Order?"

"Both."

Marlene was quiet, and then she sighed a little. "I've been meaning to ask you, well before the... never mind, my mother and father are making me dinner for my birthday. Do you... do you want to come with me?"

"Are you sure Mark will let me in the house?"

"My brothers, I can deal with. If they said anything to my father, you're toast."

He grinned. "I'll take my chances."


	33. Chapter 33

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Mark didn't take it very well as Marlene expected. She got a howler, two of them in fact, and she sent one right back. The birthday dinner wasn't as bad as she expected, but they did leave early, for Caleb's future wife was getting a little bit too comfortable around Sirius, and Mark never showed up. Marlene imagined that any day now she would be whisked off on some adventure to go find Remus Lupin, but the day never came.

Alice went into labor on the thirtieth of July, just eleven days after Marlene's birthday.

The birth went smoothly, poor Frank nearly passed out from stress. Sirius and Marlene barely made it home when they received another patronus that Lily had also gone into labor. This time it was time for Sirius to panic.

"Merlin, you'd think you were the one havin' a baby." Marlene said with a laugh, sipping a butterbeer. Sirius was pacing in front of her. James said he would send news when the baby was born. Lily had always had a temper, and truth be told, Marlene wanted to be no where near her when she was pushing something the size of a watermelon out of something the size of a lemon.

"I'm just nervous, for James." He paused and stopped pacing. Staring down at her, he grinned widely.

"What?"

"You know what would make the time go faster, Marly?"

"You're kidding?"

He was referring to sex, she knew it. They hadn't actually done it since the Remus incident. Sirius had tried once, and he had said something about how he was the only person she had ever made love with. That wasn't entirely true, and she had felt bad about not telling him the truth and just went to bed. "Not one lick."

"I'm not... not in the mood."

"Marlene," he said, moving to stand in front of her. She was sitting on the counter, the same place she was always sitting when things like this happened. Something about this kitchen just made it even easier for Sirius to trick her into bed. "You think it's hard for me to convince you." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her neck, trailing slowly up until he was at her ear. "It's never been difficult, you're drawn to me." He let a hand slide up her thigh and she jerked a little. "We have _fire_."

He was good. She would give him that if nothing else.

After it was all over, and Marlene was wondering if her body would ever recover, Sirius sat up in the bed and leaned against the headboard. "No owl yet, then?"

"Not one that I can see."

"Do you this there was complications?" The panic in his voice made Marlene chuckle a little. "Don't laugh, I just want Lily and the baby to be okay."

"I'm sure she is fine, sometimes babies don't just shoot right out."

"Do you think I should go ov-"

"No! Lily probably doesn't even want to see James, much less you." His face contorted into a pout. "Oh stop, you know it's the truth." Marlene groped blindly for her undergarments and stood up to hook her bra in the back. Sirius eyed her with a hunger that only he could embody. "Again, stop looking at me like that."

"Why? I'm allowed to aren't I?"

"Sure, but it makes me uncomfortable."

Sirius looked as if he was about to slide across the bed and show her just how uncomfortable she should be when they both jumped, for someone was knocking on the door. Marlene gabbed her jeans off the floor and slid them on. Sirius tossed a gryffindor t-shirt at her and she slid it on. He dressed just as quickly, grabbing his wand off the nightstand. Marlene fingered her own wand in her back pocket, procuring it once they entered the living room.

Sirius glance sideways at Marlene, and she could feel the worry washing off of him.

Had they finally found them? It was likely. Sirius had been being less then careful lately, and he might have to pay for it dearly. He looked back at the thin girl behind him and she nodded for him to pull the door open. He took a deep breathe and pulled it open, both of them raising their wand at... Marlene's brothers.

"Hello, you slimy git."

It was Mark who said it, and Louis shot him a nasty look. Caleb wasn't there, which was probably for the best. Marlene sighed and shoved her wand back in her packet, and leaned forward, grabbing Mark by the ear. Despite his towering over her small frame, she pulled him down to meet her face. "Got anything else to say?"

He shook his head no just as Louis entered and Sirius closed the door behind him.

Louis was by far the most put together off all her brothers. He was a banker by trade, trained in the way of making money and trading. Things Marlene had never been good at. He was dressed in a very thin sweater and a pair of slacks. He looked like one of he very fancy Muggles Marlene always saw on the giant boats. "Sirius," he said and nodded, Sirius just looked confused.

Marlene was mostly embarrassed, she had been naked with Sirius not more then ten minutes ago.

"We just wanted to check on you, make sure everything was okay." Mark said, rubbing his ear. Marlene saw what was really going on.

"So you came over here to try and snatch me away from Sirius, and Louis came because he didn't want you to do anything stupid."

"Exactly." Louis answered. "See, brother, she's fine."

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"b-but Marlene! He... you know what he did." He said, glaring in Sirius' direction, Sirius glared right back and Marlene saw his grip on his wand tighten.

"Boys!" She said, laying a hand on Sirius' chest. "If you touch my brother, Black, I swear I will hex you into the apartment below us. Mark, stop being an arse."

Mark was about to retort when an owl fluttered in through the window. Sirius seemed suddenly distracted and caught the letter in midair, practically ripping it open. He tore the right corner, but the message was still the same. His face broke out into a wide grin, and despite her brothers being a mere foot away, he grabbed Marlene and kissed her as if his life depended on it.

She gave in after a moment of feeling accosted.

He let her go with a loud smack and jumped forward, hugging Mark who made a retching sound and pushed him off. "I've gotta go." he said, and was gone with a pop.


End file.
